I have a thinkpad lying around. I have used Linux over the last 5 years and I an NOT a power user. I use Mint and it gets the job done for me.

Lately though, the whole libre software bug bit me and I want at least one machine that is libre compatible through and through. I have heard some stuff like Parabola and GNUIX or something like that, but thought it best to ask around first before even thinking about something like this.

My work essentially involves writing documents (LaTeX and LibreOffice), doing statistical analysis, and making lectures. I access emails via Thunderbird. That’s it.

Does anyone here daily drive a fully libre laptop?

  • Bogus007@lemm.ee
    52·
    17 days ago

    When exploring the libre distributions recommended by GNU.org or broader FOSS communities, I find myself questioning whether being „blob-free" is truly enough. Some suggested distributions - such as Guix - host their code on GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft.

    Similarly, systemd is maintained by Red Hat, a company closely tied to IBM and known to collaborate with Microsoft. It’s used in distributions like Parabola and Trisquel. This raises concerns about centralization and corporate influence, which makes me wonder whether these choices truly align with the spirit of software freedom.

    That said, maybe I’m misunderstanding what „libre“ fully entails.

      • Bogus007@lemm.ee
        3·
        17 days ago

        Thanks for the awesome news! I really hope more distros follow that move - more independence means more real freedom.

    • Captain Beyond@linkage.ds8.zone
      5·
      17 days ago

      Guix is currently hosted on FSF infrastructure and, as another commenter pointed out, is in the process of migrating to Codeberg. It has never been on Github.

    • LeFantome@programming.dev
      4·
      17 days ago

      If you do not want to use software written by Red Hat, you have to stop using Linux. Quite frankly also much of the GNU suite such as Glibc and GCC. You would absolutely have to stop using either Xorg or Wayland. Systemd is just an example of something Red Hat created but they are massive contributors to a lot of other surf too.

      I you want to avoid software written by profit motivated companies, you are down to about 15% of the open source ecosystem.

      • Bogus007@lemm.ee
        2·
        17 days ago

        This is misleading. While Red Hat contributes significantly to Linux and some open source projects, they did not create the Linux kernel, GCC, or glibc - those are GNU or community projects. You can absolutely use Linux without Red Hat software, especially with distros like Alpine, Gentoo, or Guix. Red Hat is influential, but not essential.

        • LeFantome@programming.dev
          1·
          2 days ago

          You can absolutely use Linux without any GNU software. I use Chimera Linux for example (no Glibc, no GCC, no GNU utils). I even get away from some software that Red Hat created according to your definition like SystemD. However, even still, I know that Red Hat is responsible for much of the software I run since I use software like X, Wayland, Mesa, Podman, KVM, PulseAudio, and PipeWire.

          It is VERY hard to run a Linux system without using code contributed by Red Hat.

          No, Red Hat did not “create” glibc, GCC, or GNOME. They just contributed tens of thousands of lines of code to them. Perhaps more than anybody else over the last 20 years. Ever heard of Ulrich Drepper?

          Actually, it is impossible to use Linux without using code contributed by Red Hat as they have been one of the biggest contributors to the Linux kernel itself for multiple decades now.

          And to clarify, the Linux kernel is absolutely NOT a GNU project. Very few packages in a typical Linux distro are actually. The full list of GNU packages is here:

          https://www.gnu.org/software/software.en.html#allgnupkgs

          Compare it with this list:

          https://www.redhat.com/en/about/open-source-program-office/contributions

          GNU has been influential but is not essential as you can create a complete Linux distribution without any of it (again see Chimera Linux). Code contributed by Red Hat however is totally unavoidable and completely essential. It is not possible to run a Linux system without it. All the distributions you listed heavily rely on code contributed by Red Hat.

          To say otherwise is not just misleading. It is wrong.

          I do not use any Red Hat distributions. I do benefit from their contributions and am thankful for them.