It seems like Ubuntu MATE is the only MATE GNU/Linux distro that includes
MATE Tweak pre-installed out of the box AND all of the panel layouts
including Redmond, Cupertino, etc.
I've seen in places such as here
https://www.reddit.com/r/debian/comments/6qcyg5/debian_matetweak/ that it is
Hmm maybe a slogan or catchphrase like "It works fine on Trisquel 9" would be
something useful to promote, either for hardware or software.
Of note here is that RMS, FSI, freedom "purists" in general are often accused
of being hippie, anti-capitalist, hostile to business, even communist. And
yet here's a key example of them insisting in principle on the freedom of a
user to SELL copies of software, SPECIFICALLY as part of a
Wow, they sure gloss over the "back up your data" issue which is absolutely
crucial for the kind of person who would need this sort of dumbed-down
hand-holding, and who would blame the new OS and "Linux" as a whole over
losing. Plus zero information about how to import your data into
What possible reason does your recipient have for supposedly needing the
document you send him to be in .docx?
Why not just send it to him in Open Document Format (.odt)?
MS Office can open, edit, and save to ODF formats - no need other than
freedom (which is of course huge but set the
I have zero idea about technical underpinnings, so maybe I should just remain
silent, but...
Linux Lite is also Ubuntu based, so it may be easier to use some of its code
than non Ubuntu based distros.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/software.html#instsoftware
It seems to have two
Someone on the Internet engaging in intelligent speculation that fits the
facts, common sense, and parsimoniousness? And, what's more, going so far as
to clearly acknowledge a lack of data, rather than confidently claiming
inside knowledge or "obvious" conspiracies? What is the world
Heh, lingered too long over my post and you beat me to it.
I realize what follows isn't exactly what you're looking for, since you
already have the antenna, but any port in a storm, perhaps? Also since you
mentioned having a big antenna, this product has an antenna upgrade available
to take you from the included 5dBi antenna to a 9dBi one, kicking
Can't argue with that on the merits, but it's already a mouthful.
One option is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, either the 7 inch or 10 inch
versions. Both run Replicant, a fully free smartphone / tablet OS. It
doesn't have a libreboot style free boot loader, but the OS is free.
https://www.replicant.us/supported-devices.php
LineageOS is less free than
Thanks for the tips, everyone.
As far as handhelds go, I'm trying to get one that can run Retroarch,
preferably one that could boot straight to the Lakka interface (I love the
Sony "Xross Media Bar" user interface and Lakka closely resembles that). I
also prefer to have the full PS3 style
Thanks.
I guess in my question I was really looking for a Retroarch capable handheld.
I'll talk about that in another post in this therad.
But as far as a "desktop" or TV-connected home console system goes, I've
already started to go down the road you suggested. I wanted to get this:
My kids are fans of SuperTux and SuperTuxCart.
Plenty of other decent games here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_games I know I know,
"open source" doesn't mean "free", and even GPL'd software sometimes uses
proprietary data or art.
I see a lot of knockoff game consoles, especially handhelds, that come
pre-loaded with obviously unauthorized copies of proprietary games.
Are there any that come blank, or that can easily be made blank, or that come
with only free/libre/open-source games, or that come with Lakka or the like
Mason said:
"I found the installation of Replicant on a Samsung Galaxy S2 to be nearly
trivial. Unless it is harder to install Replicant on a tablet for some
reason, the OP should be fine buying a Galaxy Tab running Android and
installing Replicant themselves."
If that's the case, then
With regard to tablets, you may wish to look into Replicant running on the
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, either the 7 inch or 10 inch versions.
https://www.replicant.us/supported-devices.php
Unfortunately it looks like Techno ethical no longer sells those tablets with
Replicant pre-installed, nor
Was the issue I referred to here
https://trisquel.info/en/forum/trisquel-8-flidas-screenshots#comment-130018
ever fixed?
I recommend this product:
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb
Your PC has two USB 3 ports and your USB 2 ports, so I think you're likely to
have a USB port available for use.
You may want to also take a loot at the other networking
Congratulations on suggesting the name that got picked!
Thanks. I advocate Evolution anyway, although I'd prefer it be named
"Overview" to better suggest that it's an Outlook clone. Are there any
freedom issues with Evolution?
"Given that Trisquel, like its Ubuntu base, is meant to be the most
user-friendly distro for people new to GNU-Linux,"
I would say Trisquel is meant to be the most user-friendly distro that is
fully free. That last clause matters a lot, since there are other distros
that put
No thank you to the rain / wet look. I like the blue - green color scheme.
"Also though, the updates are much more infrequent, especially icedove. which
last I checked is still at 38.8 on trisquel 7."
This is what I don't get. I get that processing Ubuntu to flush out unfree
software is labor intensive. I get that the transition from GNOME Fallback
to MATE is
It seems that Flidas' default is for its windows to have a persistently
visible scroll bar and on-screen arrow buttons at each end of it. I prefer
this to the iOS - style simplified line scrollbar with no arrow buttons that
is the default in Belenos.
However, I prefer a square, Windows
A few recommendations:
Telesphorus. The name (via false cognates) suggests telecommunications and
light, which in this age of the internet, fiber optics, and glowing screens,
fits computers well. The name apparently actually means "accomplisher" or
"bringer of completion" which would be
Perhaps this list would be useful:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Celtic_deities
Congratulations.
I recommend the following further steps on purely aesthetic grounds:
https://trisquel.info/en/forum/new-devices-ryf-certificate#comment-111959
Oh sorry, should have read this reply. Got it.
Huge cheer for Dvorak being available! How do you get around the problem of
the raised pips for touch typing on the F and J keys (as in Qwerty) and being
absent on the U and H keys (as needed in Dvorak)?
My beef with the rating system is that after clicking plus or minus, it zooms
me back to the top of the page. I don't want that. Why would anyone?
I dislike the new icon though. Icons are becoming simpler even as computers
are becoming more powerful and therefore less burdened by detailed and
complex icons.
As the FSF says:
https://www.gnu.org/distros/
"[...] if you want to make an effective contribution to free GNU/Linux
distributions, we suggest that you join the development of an existing free
distro rather that starting a new free distro."
I'm not clear on whom the above post targets with the label "astroturfer",
but if it's me, I'm not one.
I love the PCLinuxOS slogan: "The distro-hopper stopper."
However it's not a fully free distro. Strangely, it's vehemently
anti-systemd. I'm unaware of another distro that has a "pragmatic" focus
like Linux Mint (putting freedom second place to convenience, features, and
hardware
This is an excellent post, but ThinkPenguin does not go as far out of its way
to caution customers as Technoethical does. A relevant point of comparison
would be Technoethical's up-front and proactive discussion of the limitations
of its smartphones, including from a freedom perspective,
As I've said elsewhere, my beef with Purism is mostly their name. They're
not purists. It's arguably legitimate to offer maximum freedom currently
possible on current hardware, while striving to get to full freedom including
the BIOS and bootloader. But to not merely imply but to claim
No need to use MacOS to do Skype or Amazon. Another GNU/Linux distro will do
fine - not as free as a truly free OS, but freer than OSX. If you like the
Mac look and feel, try Ubuntu MATE or PCLinuxOS MATE and use the built in
MATE Tweak tool to switch to the Cupertino look.
Of course the
ThinkPenguin doesn't offer old machines. They offer current hardware. The
price you pay for that is you use the stock BIOS instead of LibreBoot, but if
you're willing to do that, you can take advantage of modern CPUs and video
cards.
Concern trolling and incitement to bash are certainly common online in the
form of seemingly innocuous requests for opinions, but I think it quite
possible, if not likely, that amid the various feuds, accusations and
counter-accusations about bad dealing and bad faith, from various parties,
Congratulations.
Quoting myself from a thread several months ago, here's some ideas for
rebranding 2,1s that I'm kicking around to use for selling them on eBay:
You can put a decal on the lid with the Trisquel logo on it for the Apple
logo light to shine through.
First, download the
I advise buying from them. Or from anyone else offering comparable products
like Minifree, Vikings, Libiquity, or ThinkPenguin (especially the latter's
accessories and other products other than actual computers, unless you're OK
with a non-libre BIOS/bootloader).
It's human nature to see
What browser does she use on Mini? The default? How's her experience on
that?
I've got a Pentium-age old laptop I'm considering giving away to my wife's
mother.
I don't. I left the Apple ecosystem because I was fed up with my large
library of paid-for apps (especially games) being made incompatible by
Apple's OS updates. The most egregious example of this was the abandonment
of Rosetta which left many PowerPC-specific OSX apps unusable; there was
That FSF page is about criticizing "cloud computing" like Google Docs, which
they call Service As A Software Substitute. It's not a blanket condemnation
of getting your email from an email provider.
After all, the FSF also recommends KolabNow here (other than its webmail):
I've been leaning toward OpenMailBox because of their normal name, IMAP
support, and calendar/contact sharing capabilities, but I'm still a bit
hesitant given their being in France, which I'd rank below Germany and
Switzerland in terms of government respect for privacy.
At this point it
ArchiveOS is a website that archives formally or de facto defunct operating
systems.
It has Trisquel in it now.
https://archiveos.org/trisquel/
AFAIK, Manjaro is not free enough to qualify for FSF endorsement. And
according to DistroWatch, it's not systemd-free either. I'm not sure whether
to trust that claim, however, since DistroWatch also claims that Linux Mint
is systemd-free, which makes no sense since Ubuntu already uses
My view is, if it's pure enough for rms (since he accepts Trisquel and other
systemd-using OS's), it's pure enough for anybody.
As far as anything other than freedom is concerned, if systemd is
inappropriately ambitious, there should be practical consequences for that
supposed
I suspect that EU and NATO membership carries with it certain disclosure
obligations. Merkel has defended the NSA, and Snowden had revealed extensive
German cooperation. It subsequently came to light that Germany had also been
monitoring its allies too.
Although I'm very pro-NATO, I'm
Uh oh.
See this classic article about why rewriting an app from scratch is nearly
always a disastrous idea:
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/
Then again, if I recall correctly, that guy predicted that the iPhone would
be a flop. Strange that
Thanks for a great post and for offering the products you do.
Can I ask why some of your hardware has not obtained the RYF certification?
I don't begrudge OpenMailBox revenue, nor their moral right to shift to a pay
model. I do think they should have provided some notice.
Are their calendar and contacts services able to be synced with apps such as
Evolution? Can that data be shared and synchronized with other users?
I could respect Purism more if it weren't for their company's name (and the
name of their OS, PureOS).
It's one thing to present yourself as offering the most free product
currently possible with modern specifications and styling, while being up
front that modern specifications and styling
Great but hosted in Germany rather than Switzerland. And not a big fan of
the domain name either.
Thanks, that was a pretty good summary.
This issue keeps coming up.
Why? What is the barrier to keeping already approved software packages
updated in the repositories?
Why can't the Trisquel project just automatically pull in the software
package from the Ubuntu or Debian repositories as soon as those are updated?
Is there
Forgot to mention - reasonable expectation that it will survive and not go
belly up in the near to mid term.
Great answer to an intemperate post.
Irony siren: I can't go to the site at work because I get a "Privacy Error"
blocking page. Nice.
I'm still undecided on what email provider to move to. I guess there's
nothing out there that hits all the targets:
1) 100% use of libre software and fully freedom compatible, librebooted
hardware with no backdoors
2) 100% end-to-end content encryption that prevents the provider from
Is there a Dvorak version of the Apple keyboard in Libreboot and Trisquel?
I need to update it as well with information about how to put on Trisquel
stickers, not just the non-Trisquel stickers it mentions.
How's it doing with regard to heat issues? Does it run hotter, does the fan
run more often and louder etc? Another user here took drastic steps
including drilling holes in the bottom and replacing the optical drive with a
copper heat sink to deal with that.
Yes but it's not updated is it? Not the latest Ubuntu 14.04 bug fixes and
security updates. And the apps in the repositories, even the apps pre
installed by default, are also terribly old too, aren't they?
Can't stand the name and icon. Looks evil. Why do so many free software
programs and projects unnecessarily insist on choosing off-putting,
alienating, and bizarre names and icons??
I think it's very bad news for WINE and the ReactOS project. It makes it
harder for them to be able to defend themselves against claims they haven't
seen the source code.
Are there noticeable performance differences between the models? Such as in
bootup time, launch time of major programs like the web browser, email app,
LibreOffice?
Are they all able to run commercial DVD movies out of the box? I've been
unable to get that working myself in other distros
At least, use IMAP to simplify the transfer process. Once everything's
downloaded to the email app in Trisquel, you could then reconsider whether
you really want your emails sitting in someone else's server.
Another issue is if you're using Apple's own email service (with a dot-mac,
A shame that Apple's MagSafe Connector didn't catch on as an industry
standard. Even Apple has abandoned it.
How's the trackpad?
Every GNU/Linux distro (fully free or otherwise) that I've tried makes the
trackpad frustratingly sensitive. Whereas with Windows, MacOS, or ChromeOS
you could use the computer normally, on GNU/Linux it's common for accidental
or incidental contact with the trackpad,
The small form factor is nice, but the lack of a trackpad is a deal-killer
for many.
The confrontation and harshness began with the question asking why you didn't
"just" use someone else's computer, as if it's OK for others to impose
burdens and one should just put up with it.
At the very least, the person who BEGAN that tone should be made to realize
how they sound, by
"If they ask why you didn't "just" use this other person's computer to fill
out the forms, tell them that you refuse to send DRM-encumbered files out of
principle, and secondarily (if this is true) that this would hardly have made
the job easier anyway."
I really think the burden should be
I encourage you to reconsider. While you have the freedom to fork any free
software project, please exercise this freedom responsibly and only after
careful consideration of the downsides such as the opportunity costs of
dispersion and diversion of man-hours and other resources, unnecessary
I have zero expertise but my understanding is that with HTTPS, the ISP can
see that you've been to a certain site or domain at a particular date and
time, but can't see what individual page you've seen there or what
transaction you've engaged in (such as what text you've sent to a contact
Informative but depressing.
I do understand that the vagueness of "cloud" is a problem, in particular by
obscuring they key fact that your data and your (perhaps) apps are residing
on and dependent on a specific physical computer in a specific location owned
and controlled by someone else who probably doesn't have your
Just saw the same thing, referenced on DistroWatch:
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20170508#news
Fedora The Fedora distribution has long avoided providing full support for
encoding MP3 audio files due to licensing restrictions on the MP3 format.
However, the patents on the MP3
From the official FSF PlayOgg FAQ at
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/playogg/faq:
Unlike MP3, Ogg Vorbis is not restricted by patents. Microsoft at one time
was faced with a $1.5 billion jury verdict after being sued for using MP3
without a license. After a multi-year process, the verdict was
Why does Technoethical only sell older phones (the Galaxy S2 and S3) if much
newer phones can run Replicant too?
I'm not talking about the operating system.
I'm talking about the apps in the repositories.
Since the apps that have been included in Trisquel have already been screened
for freedom, what's the problem with auto-updating them from the Ubuntu
repositories?
If you prefer tablets, there are also tablets that can run Replicant, which
is a fully free derivative of Android.
http://www.replicant.us/supported-devices.php
Unfortunately, there are still some apparent freedom issues with the
hardware.
And Techno ethical does not seem to sell them
Why is any people power needed, at least to keep software updated? Why can't
the Trisquel repos simply pull down whatever the latest version is from
Ubuntu as soon as Ubuntu's are refreshed?
I think the followup that apologized specifically to individual people, for
specific things, was very impressive.
Unity moves the menubar to the top bar/panel, MacOS style, when a window is
maximized / full screened. Does GNOME 3 do that?
Thanks but why do the re-direct at all? Why not keep the store up?
Once I tell the browser to create an exception and let me go to the store, I
just get re-routed back to the Trisquel homepage.
Whenever I try to follow the link to the Trisquel Store here
http://store.trisquel.info/ I get a security warning.
Specifically,
--
The owner of store.trisquel.info has configured their website improperly. To
protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to
Thank you!
Thank you!
I'm still surprised no one out there, whether a formal company like Minifree,
Viking, Technoethical, and Libiquity, or even just some random eBay seller,
is yet selling any Libreboot-flashed laptop other than the Lenovos. Nobody's
selling:
the ASUS Chromebook C201
That is a relief.
Glad to see that the Romania-based hardware with fully-free software retailer
has changed its name from "Tehnoetic" which looked like a misspelling to
"Technoethical" which is much better.
Every desktop for Trisquel should have the Trisquel logo as the default icon
for the menu button.
Your comments in this thread (and in the link you provide) are terrific.
Principled, informative, innovative, focused, and important.
Why don't they use Trisquel? Why did they insist on further dividing the
community with their own OS?
As the FSF says, https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html
"If you wish to improve the state of free distros, helping to develop an
existing free distro contributes more than starting
There's quite a bit of evidence that Dvorak improves typing speed and
comfort.
In the first place, the world record-holder for typing speed to this day is a
Dvorak user. Dvorak users, though a tiny minority of typists, have been
disproportionately represented among typing speed and
By the way when you did this to the MacBook, did your Libreboot include this?
(Quoted from Libreboot website at
https://libreboot.org/docs/hcl/#macbook21):
"The system does get a bit hotter compared to when running the original
firmware. It is certainly hotter than an X60/T60. The heat
You should start offering Libreboot enabled MacBooks on eBay. With your
modifications it should work well, although I'd make it an option whether to
remove the DVD-ROM for the extra heat sink or not.
You could even put a decal on the lid with the Trisquel logo on it for the
Apple logo
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