On Wed, 14 Apr 2021 09:50:17 -0400
Hendrik Boom <hendrik@???> wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 14, 2021 at 09:02:54AM -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
> > tito via Dng said on Tue, 13 Apr 2021 22:03:02 +0200
> >
> >

> > >2) should non-free and contrib repos be added to sources.list
> > >    or should that be left to the user

> >
> > I'm not sure whether my answer is responsive to your question or
> > not, but here goes...
> >
> > I believe enough non-free and contrib stuff should be available at
> > install time (or boot time on a live CD/flash) that the user doesn't
> > need to put in additional media to get boot, network, video and
> > sound working. And I believe any non-free and contrib stuff should,
> > by default, be installed at install time, but before installation
> > the user should be given the option of opting out of this
> > non-free/contrib stuff, so if he/she only uses free software,
> > he/she can maintain that principle in the installation.
> >
> > Stating it the inverse way, I HATE these installs that bomb because
> > there's no FSF-satisfying drivers, firmware or software to handle
> > my new laptop's weird hardware. And those distros that do that,
> > their mailing lists always say "well just put in a thumb drive with
> > the drivers/firmware!" How the KFDWOJMFOW do I know which drivers
> > and firmware? I think free software purist snobs drive more people
> > back to Windows than cleanse people of their non-free ways.
>
> Yes, the nonfree software which is necessary to getting hardware to
> work should be installed unless the user explicitly says not to do it.
> He may be committed to freedom, but may have been bamboozled by the
> hardware vendor or has been given a free (but not libre) piece of
> hardware by a doting aunt for his birthday.
>
> That said, he should have to opt in to receiving other nonfree
> software. That should be a separate choice. He may well want to be
> as independent of nonfree software as practical.
>
> And let me remind you, there is precious little completely libre
> computer hardware around. Until there is, even the most extreme
> libre/freedom advocate will have nonfree stuff somewhere in the stack.
>
> Yes, I'm hoping for the longterm success of the libre-soc project.
>
> -- hendrik

Hi,
thanks for your time and effort. My question was rather practical,
so let me rephrase it: is there a robust way to detect from a script
if buster non-free and contrib repos are enabled in
/etc/apt/sources.lists so that I can add the same repos for
beowulf to sources.list?
I could not find something that looks reliable so far.

Ciao,
Tito