I'm a 10+ year Debian user and Free Software supporter.
The release notes for Bookworm are currently telling users
that they can use "firmware=never" to continue installing Debian
without non-free-firmware, as was possible with Bullseye and earlier
releases. And when installing from non-live DVD images, those
"firmware=never" instructions do successfully block
non-free-firmware.
However, that method also blocks the usual FREE firmware
that would have been installed with Bullseye and previous releases.
Therefore, when using this method on Bookworm, my Wifi adapter
didn't work after installation, whereas it always worked after
installing Bullseye and earlier releases.
This has essentially made Bookworm much less friendly for
Free Software supporters than Bullseye and earlier releases.
Suggestions:
1) Best:
The best solution IMO would be to add a step to all CD/DVD
installers to opt-in or opt-out of non-free-firmware.
2) Second best:
There could be something like a "nonfreefirmware=never"
option added. However, that method alone would be less user
friendly than having something integrated into the
graphical installer.
3) Third best/bad:
Re-word the Debian.org web pages that promote Debian as
Free Software ("Why Debian", "Our Philosophy", and "Who We Are")
so as to not mislead users about what they're getting with certain
installers. I'd be disappointed with this option, but at
least it would inform rather than mislead users about
what they'll get with certain installers.
Worst option:
The worst option IMO would be to not make any change, as the
way things currently are is very misleading as to what's being
installed. These "bugs" (issues that have arisen with Bookworm)
really either need to be fixed (#1 or #2), or the truth about what
certain installers are doing needs to be disclosed on those Debian
promo pages and download pages (suggestion #3).
Debian 12.5
