Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
There are many reasons to assume it is not free. Often, distros say they are free. But by free, they mean gratuity and not freedom. Rockbox is not a linux distribution, it is an open source operating system that is unrelated to linux but also distributed under the GPL. I didn't personally work on this project so I'm not 100% sure. However the person who worked on it suggested Rockbox does some dirty stuff. It patches the non-free image I believe. We do not patch anything. Everything in Rockbox is GPLv2+ or GPLv2+ compatible (i.e. we use Xiph's tremor which is BSD) and you can compile the entire OS and all install tools without even a single binary from us (or anyone). Depending on how your device's ROM works, YOU may need to patch it in order to gain the freedom to execute arbitrary code. This is your choice. If you're not comfortable hacking some proprietary ROM, buy a player in which this is not required.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Chris, perhaps you should get in touch with Rockbox developers so that the player you are selling is advertised on the Rockbox homepage.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Yes- it wouldn't be a bad idea. I have thought of doing it. I'd love for us to contribute something back to the project. As it is right now we are not. We haven't sold that many yet though... Maybe when I have some time I'll get in touch.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
It's nice to see another decent option out there for a portable music player. Not a bad price really either. Keep it up Chris!
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
A lot of it is because of the people here. It's a really simple thing. If people show there is demand (by asking and purchasing product, even if not perfect for the desired task) we can make more serious investments. That equates to lower prices. I just secured a fairly sizeable loan and we will be stocking 3 new products and increasing our stock of a fourth product (thus lowering our costs a bit). I believe within the next week we will have a new TV tuner card, and within two weeks or so a new dual-band USB N wifi adapter /w the AR7010+AR9280 (also 100% free firmware, uses ATH9K_HTC_OPEN firmware), and a new USB N wifi adapter /w external antenna for long range use (also AR9271). The forth product which we are getting a larger stock of is a PCI N wireless card.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Rockbox includes a video player with support for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats but you will need to transcode the videos beforehand.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
I'm guessing the code might recommend installing non-free games and/or artwork. Perhaps this might be. The code might also use some non-free drivers and/or firmware from the original firmware (e.g. for battery charging). They say they don't do this. http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/GeneralFAQ#What_is_Rockbox_63_What_is_its_purpose_63
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Is there any reason you can assure it is free? Well, to begin with it's license is GPL. And it's listed on libreplanet and on the FSF directory. On top of that I did a small search to find something non-free but came up empty. Perhaps aloniv is right and it does suggest non-free stuff. But until somebody says so I would be inclined to think it is indeed free.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
The Doom Rockbox page links to a shareware version of Doom alongside Freedoom so someone might be tricked into downloading a proprietary version of the game (although this is also true for other software, e.g. Midori's Xfce page explains how to setup Adobe Flash).
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
I'd be careful in assuming it's free. It may be the least non-free solution. However that doesn't mean it's going to get an endorsement by the FSF. They would probably suggest it over something else though.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
El 06/05/13 02:25, mikko.viinam...@students.turkuamk.fi escribió: Is there any reason you can assure it is free? Well, to begin with it's license is GPL. And it's listed on libreplanet and on the FSF directory. On top of that I did a small search to find something non-free but came up empty. Perhaps aloniv is right and it does suggest non-free stuff. But until somebody says so I would be inclined to think it is indeed free. I think you are exactly on spot. I went in their chatroom and asked them. They said that their stuff has no non-free software or binary blobs. But that they keep the original firmware on the devices so it is possible that the user could use nonfree software/firmware if she restarted the device with the original firmware. Inside Rockbox, some (very, very few) not reverse engineered hardware would not work because of this exclusion of nonfree parts. I asked if they would like me to ask the FSF to recommend them. And they accepted. but they [FSF] are interested in promoting those that promote freedom in contrast with those that don't mind freedom but instant gain, with freedom or without it They acknowledged the fact that they are in the second group. So, I think that checking for violations of FSDG and asking they if they would like to change, would be very successful. Anybody up for the challenge of checking about compliance? -- Saludos libres, Quiliro Ordóñez Presidente (en conjunto con el resto de socios) Asociación de Software Libre del Ecuador - ASLE Av de la Prensa N58-219 y Cristóbal Vaca de Castro Quito, Ecuador (02)-600 8579 IRC: http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=asleuio=OT10cnVlJjEwPXRydWU3a Todo correo que reciba será tratado como información pública, de libre copia y modificación, sin importar cualquier nota de confidencialidad.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Since the release of Squeeze, Debian can be made nearly 100% free because the non-free firmware was excluded and packaged in the non-free repos. Of course Trisquel provides a very convenient way to run 100% free software, but using a well configured Debian is just ok, because there is no non-free software if you don't like too. But I understand why the fsf doesn't recommend Debian, since it is very easy getting tricked into using proprietary software (installing non-free extensions in iceweasel for example).
[Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
We now have an audio player with Rockbox firmware. Please be aware that Rockbox firmware does not conform to FSF standards (I don't believe) although should reduce the amount of non-free code your dependent on if your going to get a portable audio player. It'll work seamlessly with Rhythmbox, Trisquel, Parabola GNU/Linux, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, and other DRM-free formats.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Chris, why don't you simply sell one of the digital audio players that are supported by Rockbox with Rockbox preinstalled?
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Please be aware that Rockbox firmware does not conform to FSF standards (I don't believe) Looks free to me, any particular reason you think otherwise?
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
Does it play video? Theora perhaps? It didn't sound like it, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
I'm guessing the code might recommend installing non-free games and/or artwork.
Re: [Trisquel-users] OGG Player /w Rockbox Firmware
El 06/05/13 00:23, mikko.viinam...@students.turkuamk.fi escribió: Please be aware that Rockbox firmware does not conform to FSF standards (I don't believe) Looks free to me, any particular reason you think otherwise? There are many reasons to assume it is not free. Often, distros say they are free. But by free, they mean gratuity and not freedom. And even the ones that focus on freedom (like Debian) are not really free. Its base is free but it has nonfree packages distributed by it. So, they are not free. Is there any reason you can assure it is free? -- Saludos libres, Quiliro Ordóñez Presidente (en conjunto con el resto de socios) Asociación de Software Libre del Ecuador - ASLE Av de la Prensa N58-219 y Cristóbal Vaca de Castro Quito, Ecuador (02)-600 8579 IRC: http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=asleuio=OT10cnVlJjEwPXRydWU3a Todo correo que reciba será tratado como información pública, de libre copia y modificación, sin importar cualquier nota de confidencialidad.
