> Instead of seeing other RYF hardware-projects as contrary to your business
you should put your effort into
> supplying and marketing your own, like that very good refurbished router,
that will help the public to
> escape proprietary solutions today.
We only sell one refurbished product and that's an OGG / FLAC audio player.
The routers are new. They're not properly branded although we should have out
something better shortly. Our main objective was to get the router to a point
where we had more control over the manufacturing process. We succeeded.
> Your routers are actually similar in this respect, but your case is not at
all as strong since you're also
> recommending non-free distros like Ubuntu.
Yea- that can't be helped. I'm not about to say "we won't help you move off
non-free operating systems because your not 100% pure". If we took that
approach then we would have zero (including Mini free's systems) systems we
could recommend. These Lenovo systems running libreboot are not 100% free.
They are just a major step in the right direction. None-the-less they are a
dead-end as we can't keep refurbishing Lnnovos as Intel's not cooperating.
> Most people I know who have used Ubuntu in the past have later moved to
OSX, because Ubuntu never taught them to
> value their own freedom but only to hate Windows.
This perspective isn't quite seeing the whole picture or even a big chunk of
it. While I agree Ubuntu fails to get people to understand and value freedom
it's not something we generally succeed at doing anywhere. A lot of people
try Trisquel, but ultimately most people don't stick with Trisquel either.
Did Trisquel not teach people to value there freedom?
The large majority of people using Ubuntu don't know better, but it's still
better that they use Ubuntu or another distribution over Microsoft Windows or
OS X. I get to see it from a larger angle and there are a lot of people
moving from Ubuntu to other distributions including Trisquel. There are also
a lot of people who are *not* returning to Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X.
Most of the people on Trisquel today have moved to it from a distribution
with non-free pieces. I think to say we shouldn't help people move away from
non-free operating systems is a mistake. I don't expect free software
projects to recommend Ubuntu or Debian- In fact I don't think they should
which is why Bob and I think Libreboot recommending Debian and Fedora was a
mistake. However ultimately I also don't think turning people back to
Microsoft Windows is the answer either. There is middle ground and that's
where ThinkPenguin lies.
