On 6/15/19, golinux@??? <golinux@???> wrote:
> That is exactly why I posted for discussion here. Thanks to both Martin
> and Evilham for stepping up and starting the conversation. On
> #devaun-dev plasma41 also offered to help and I'm hoping that more of
> you will join in. This could very well result in a page for the
> website/wiki/forum that would clarify Devuan's position on free
> software.

golinux,

Would you please respond with the following message. I've also attached
my response as a valid markdown document that can be used as a starting
point if you would like to incorporate any of it into the website and/or
wiki.

Thanks,
Plasma

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings Porto,

Thank you for your enthusiasm about Devuan and free software. I too
would personally love to see Devuan endorsed by the FSF as compliant to
the [GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines][GNU FSDG]. Unfortunately,
Devuan, in its current form, is not compliant to the guidelines for the
same [reasons][why-not-debian] Debian is not compliant. As a stated goal
of Devuan is to provide a seamless upgrade path from Debian, this is
unlikely to change. The inclusion of non-free firmware on the install
media of current Devuan releases further disqualifies Devuan from FSF
endorsement.

[GNU FSDG]: https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html
[why-not-debian]: https://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html#Debian

However, there are several projects to create a GNU FSDG-compliant
distribution using Devuan as a base that you may be interested in
exploring:

* [Gnuinos][] aims to create a lightweight general-purpose Devuan
derivative with the goal of becoming an FSF-endorsed distribution.

[Gnuinos]: https://gnuinos.org/

* [heads][] aims to provide a privacy-focused distro in the same vein
as the Tails distribution. Like Tails, heads routes all network traffic
through Tor, but unlike Tails, heads does not use systemd and does not
include non-free firmware.

[heads]: https://heads.dyne.org/

* [EterTICs][] is a Latin American distribution for running community
radio stations.

[EterTICs]: https://gnuetertics.org/

Hope this answers your questions and helps you find the best distro to
meet your needs.

Plasma
Greetings Porto,

Thank you for your enthusiasm about Devuan and free software. I too
would personally love to see Devuan endorsed by the FSF as compliant to
the [GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines][GNU FSDG]. Unfortunately,
Devuan, in its current form, is not compliant to the guidelines for the
same [reasons][why-not-debian] Debian is not compliant. As a stated goal
of Devuan is to provide a seamless upgrade path from Debian, this is
unlikely to change. The inclusion of non-free firmware on the install
media of current Devuan releases further disqualifies Devuan from FSF
endorsement.

[GNU FSDG]: https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html
[why-not-debian]: https://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html#Debian

However, there are several projects to create a GNU FSDG-compliant
distribution using Devuan as a base that you may be interested in
exploring:

* [Gnuinos][] aims to create a lightweight general-purpose Devuan
derivative with the goal of becoming an FSF-endorsed distribution.

[Gnuinos]: https://gnuinos.org/

* [heads][] aims to provide a privacy-focused distro in the same vein
as the Tails distribution. Like Tails, heads routes all network traffic
through Tor, but unlike Tails, heads does not use systemd and does not
include non-free firmware.

[heads]: https://heads.dyne.org/

* [EterTICs][] is a Latin American distribution for running community
radio stations.

[EterTICs]: https://gnuetertics.org/

Hope this answers your questions and helps you find the best distro to
meet your needs.

Plasma