on naming the devils in the Linux-libre front page

[Alexandre Oliva]

On Nov  8, 2009, Nick <nick at njw.me.uk> wrote:

> Well, there are certainly people who want to run distros whose 
> package management systems make installing non-free software 
> convenient, but who choose not to exercise that option.

Sure, that's why we choose to offer and encourage others to offer
Linux-libre packages even for non-Free distros.

But while on the one hand we don't mind that people use such distros if
they're careful to not give up their freedoms or encourage others to do
so, on the other we don't want to steer others towards these distros
ourselves, for this may lead people who don't know better to make
mistakes.

I see the two issues as orthogonal, and the arguments you presented here
are pretty much all related with the “using”, rather than with the
“promoting”, which is the relevant issue to decide whether or not to
name the distros.

> I'd really appreciate it if you called the distributions by their 
> preferred names

Now here's a twist: if you replace something as fundamental as the
kernel in a distro, is it still the same distro?

I've often considered that it isn't any more, which is why I didn't
consider myself to run a certain non-Free distro, but rather Freed-ora.
That was before I switched to the Lemote Yeeloong, on which I run
gNewSense, with plans to also try Amagi and UTUTO XS.

Likewise Freed-ebian, Huru-buntu, etc.  This helps highlight that the
original distro is not Free, but with names that are still hopefully
recognizable by those who know what they're looking for.

Now, it may be that Genfree is not as good or clear a pun as the others,
so the reference is not as self-evident.  Any ideas on how to fix that?

-- 
Alexandre Oliva, freedom fighter    http://FSFLA.org/~lxoliva/
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Gandhi
Be Free! -- http://FSFLA.org/   FSF Latin America board member
Free Software Evangelist      Red Hat Brazil Compiler Engineer