Resplendent606

Not everything requires a response and at some point you have to pick your battles. They have revealed to you that they are an idiot. It is not your job to fix them.

This is the experience I imagine I would have trying it. It is probably what anyone with a modern system would experience with proprietary firmware. From what I read, Trisquel’s core philosophy is to include only free software and Eiskaltdcpp most likely relies on some non-free dependencies.

I like Debian. I am currently trying Fedora and it has been good, too. Void is on my list of “distros to someday try” as it sounds super interesting using runit, XBPS, and not relying on systemd.

I knew about the Epstein thing and it is pretty offensive but unsurprising. What is surprising is what I just read about the developer in 2005 who mentioned taking time off for the birth of his daughter, essentially implying that contributing to Emacs was a more valuable contribution than having children. That is messed up.

Even worse, apparently there were also old blog posts where he discussed the legalization of sex with minors and child pornography, arguing that certain acts should be legal “as long as no one is coerced” and are only illegal due to “prejudice and narrow-mindedness.”

He’s not a great guy. I appreciate the work he has lead with free software, but he’s said some pretty screwed up stuff.

Sources:

https://blog.codinghorror.com/spawning-a-new-process/

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761718975/free-software-pioneer-quits-mit-over-his-comments-on-epstein-sex-trafficking-cas

Nothing OS is a custom OS by Nothing Technology Limited built on Android. It is not privacy focused like you would get with GrapheneOS but has very little bloat. It is proprietary to Nothing phones. There are unofficial versions of /e/OS available on on XDA for the CMF Phone 1. The Fairphone 4 also has the ability to run custom ROMS like /e/OS and LineageOS.

Here is a video talking about putting /e/OS on the CMF Phone 1: https://youtu.be/TkTzmM9izCo

While, I’m not sure if you’re in the US or elsewhere, here is my response from a US perspective. Another consideration is what carrier do you use, especially if you’re in the US. A phone with a user-replaceable battery that is under $300 is going to be hard to find, at least new.

My recommendation for a new phone would be the CMF Phone 1. While the battery isn’t user-replaceable in the “pop out” sense, it is designed with a more accessible battery for easier replacement than most modern smartphones. https://us.nothing.tech/products/cmf-phone-1

For used, this is also challenging. If you can find a Fairphone 3 or 4 in the US that works with your carrier, that would be perfect. The Fairphones have batteries that are removable by popping off the back cover. They are typically around $300 I think.

While I think it would be too hard for most people to be completely free of proprietary software, atleast he is practicing what he preaches. It is a nice goal to someday get there, but I don’t think its realistic at the moment.

Kind in mind, though, he is 72 and I don’t think he even codes anymore. His computer use probably only consists of mostly Emac (for all text based work) and a web browser (which I read he has a very particular method that involves something similar to wget, lynx, and konqueror). His computer use is very light (I imagine) compared to many Linux users.

While I aspire to and appreciate what the FSF advocates, I don’t see a realistic path for myself as a Linux gamer. The proprietary firmware limitations alone would keep you on 2015 hardware.

Source: https://kottke.org/15/05/how-richard-stallman-does-his-computing

Because Debian does not meet the strict requirements of the FSF. It includes non-free blobs in the kernel and the FSF claims Debian “steers” users with recommendations for installing non-free plugins or codecs. Some “contrib” packages, while free themselves, exist primarily to load separately distributed proprietary programs. There are also references in the Debian documentation and official channels that suggest obtaining non-free software for functionality.

edit: typos

Also, incase you’re wondering, Richard Stallman uses Trisquel GNU/Linux.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisquel#%3A~%3Atext=Richard+Stallman+has+mentioned+that%2Cpreviously+used+the+Lemote+Yeeloong.

I think the trick is finding a balance between ignoring it and keeping up with what is happening. Most of the National News is just reports of what terrible thing the White House is doing today. Those reports are unnecessary and time consuming. Don’t give into the rage bait. A lot of this is easier said than done but try to find a balance.