Re: [Fsuk-manchester] Manchester Anarchist Bookfair, 7th June 2008

[Lucy]

On 04/06/2008, Matt Lee <address@hidden> wrote:
> gNewSense 2.0 should be able to work on 99% of people's machines.
>
>  The only thing missing will be proprietary drivers for 3d video and some
>  wireless drivers, but Atheros cards now have a free driver.

I thought this was still in development, is it suitable for everyday use yet?


>  Giving away gNewSense CDs over Ubuntu promotes free software more, imo.
>
>  We should always strive for free software, and not sacrifice this goal
>  for the convenience of having 3d cards and wireless internet working.

It's not a convenience, it's essential IMO. My PC won't work with the
free ATI driver and most people won't consider an operating system
that doesn't provide them with Internet access. If we were talking
about technical users it might be different, but I notice so far that
the majority of people on this list do not use gNewSense. Why should
they recommend it to new users if they don't even bother to use it
themselves (myself included)?

My concern is that gNewSense won't work as well as something like
Ubuntu and that a new user will simply turn away from free software
having been given a bad impression. I'm not comfortable asking a
non-technical user to make sacrifices with wireless, flash and 3d,
etc. I would rather try to convince the manufacturers to make free
drivers instead (and get the new users to do the same).