:)
h-node is luck though. ThinkPenguin is not luck. We're shipping back 35
printers because of an issue tomorrow. This is for a printer we have been
selling for at least a year. Trust me. It's luck when you get hardware that
is what you expected based on a model number.
If other sellers participated in a program to ship freedom friendly hardware
it also wouldn't be luck any more when you bought from them and got what you
expected.
FSF has a program to endorse hardware. We're going to be involved in that and
it would be good if others did too. I doubt there will be many putting up
with the trouble for what they see and a insignificant customer base though.
That's reality.
I like the idea of h-node. I just don't think relying on "manufacturers"
which swap out chipsets on a whim and don't update the model numbers is doing
a good thing. It is doing a disservice to free software and GNU/Linux users
in general. And particularly those who are actively engaged in supporting the
companies whom are doing this. If you are a seller of "Linux" hardware or to
a GNU/Linux user base you should feel obligated to solve these issues.
The sellers should know better than to sell hardware with non-free
dependencies, the user base should be informed, and users at h-node should be
warned of the reliability of the information available. I should also point
out this isn't just true of h-node. It's true of every similar type of
database on this subject. H-node is nothing new. It's just slightly different
and slightly better in that it doesn't include hardware with non-free
software dependencies.
http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Hardware
https://hardware.redhat.com/
http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/search
We shouldn't need a different database for each and every distribution under
the sun either. But ohh well.
I don't feel my time is worth focusing on this issue.
