GNU Linux-libre 3.18-gnu is now available

[Alexandre Oliva]

Hi,

Since upstream 3.18 is out, so is GNU Linux-libre 3.18-gnu ;-)

I hoped I'd be able to get the blobhush implementation in this cycle,
because I started work on this release somewhat earlier than usual in
the cycle.  It wasn't a particularly difficult release, in spite of
various cleanups I decided to make, but still no luck with blobhush.
I've now concluded it's far too much work to fit into a single release
cycle, so I'm going to aim at introducing it incrementally over future
releases.  If you don't know what blobhush is about, that's the nickname
for the feature that will enable the kernel to load blobs without asking
for them, first proposed in the request for comments published along
with the announcement of release 2.6.33-libre.
http://www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/anuncio/2010-03-Linux-2.6.33-libre

To make up at least in part for yet another release without blobhush,
I've implemented numerous improvements and fixes, some of which had been
reported long ago, but that I thought I'd just fold into, or that would
be obsoleted by, the implementation of blobhush.  See the 3.18-gnu news
entry on our main web page for details on the fixes, improvements, and
deblobbing changes.  I restate here my gratitude for all the reports,
even though it took me very long to get to some of them.  I also thank
the maintainers of the new mirrors in Ecuador, since it was a shame that
we didn't have any operational mirrors in our home, Latin America!
http://linux-libre.fsfla.org/#news


For up-to-the-minute news, join us on #linux-libre of irc.gnu.org
(Freenode), or follow me (@lxoliva) on Twister <http://twister.net.co/>
or pump.io <http://identi.ca/lxoliva/>.

Be Free! with GNU Linux-libre.


WHAT IS GNU Linux-libre?

  GNU Linux-libre is a Free version of the kernel Linux (see below),
  suitable for use with the GNU Operating System in 100% Free
  GNU/Linux-libre System Distributions.
  http://www.gnu.org/distros/

  It removes non-Free components from Linux, that are disguised as
  source code or distributed in separate files.  It also disables
  run-time requests for non-Free components, shipped separately or as
  part of Linux, and documentation pointing to them, so as to avoid
  (Free-)baiting users into the trap of non-Free Software.
  http://www.fsfla.org/anuncio/2010-11-Linux-2.6.36-libre-debait

  Linux-libre started within the gNewSense GNU/Linux distribution.
  It was later adopted by Jeff Moe, who coined its name, and in 2008
  it became a project maintained by FSF Latin America.  In 2012, it
  became part of the GNU Project.

  The GNU Linux-libre project takes a minimal-changes approach to
  cleaning up Linux, making no effort to substitute components that
  need to be removed with functionally equivalent Free ones.
  Nevertheless, we encourage and support efforts towards doing so.
  http://libreplanet.org/wiki/LinuxLibre:Devices_that_require_non-free_firmware

  Our mascot is Freedo, a light-blue penguin that has just come out
  of the shower.  Although we like penguins, GNU is a much greater
  contribution to the entire system, so its mascot deserves more
  promotion.  See our web page for their images.
  http://linux-libre.fsfla.org/

WHAT IS LINUX?

  Linux is a clone of the Unix kernel [...]

(snipped from the README in the source distribution of GNU Linux-libre)


-- 
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 Brasil GNU Toolchain Engineer