The lack of non-free software is actually a benefit in my humble opinion. It
ensures you aren't being locked into anything.
For example if you purchase a laptop with Trisquel and everything works it
should continue to work with future versions of GNU/Linux.
This is not to say there is zero chance of having a problem in the future.
However the difference is that bugs which get introduced can be fixed and
there isn't a single that you have to rely on for continued support.
Compare this to a non-free component one is reliant on. Most GNU/Linux users
today are dependent on Adobe Flash for access to a variety of web sites.
Adobe has discontinued Flash support for Firefox on GNU/Linux and now these
users won't be able to get support from a third party since the code is not
free.
Many devices are no longer supported on any platform due to non-free
components. This includes graphics cards, modems, printers, and other
devices. Sometimes companies have gone out of business although in most cases
the companies which released non-free drivers for GNU/Linux, Mac, or
Microsoft Windows have simply discontinued support and thus a user is left
vulnerable or with non-functioning hardware.
In regards to this issue it looks like that is an Intel wireless card and
Intel's firmware is non-free.
If it had been an ethernet card we do have a USB chipset which is free
software friendly. Both 10/100 and now 10/100/1000. The later I don't believe
will work until the next release of Trisquel though. We don't have any PCI
cards at the moment although we shouldn't probably look into PCI/PCIe as well
just to ensure we have a complete catalog.
