Re: [H-source-users] changes to the h-node.org website

[Ward Vandewege]

On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 03:45:05PM -0500, address@hidden wrote:
> >We would like to have some changes made to the language on h-node.org.
> >Anyone
> >here who can help with that?
> 
> Please share your ideas.
> This is the right place to ask/suggest.

Okay. RMS would like the following changes made:

1. Add an field, for each device, that says whether the manufacturer
cooperates adequately with development of free software to run the device. 

It would have three values: yes, no, and unknown. Maybe it would not display
at all when the value is unknown (which would be the default answer).

The definition of 'manufacturer cooperates' is as follows:

=============================================================================
'Manufacturer cooperates' means that the manufacturer of the product provided
the community either with free drivers and/or firmware sufficient to use the
device, or specs sufficient to implement them.
=============================================================================

It would be good to add that definition so that people who fill in the
information know how to answer the question. Answering it should not be
compulsary.

Once the field is there, we (FSF + volunteers) might make an effort to fill
in this information for a few categories of devices for which the comparison
is specifically useful.

2. new FAQ item:

=============================================================================
It is compatible with the Free Software Philosophy to buy hardware with
pre-installed proprietary software if they can be upgraded to free software.
For most devices listed on h-node this does not apply because they do not
come with pre-installed proprietary software. Notable exceptions are some
laptops and routers.
=============================================================================
 
3. The items that ship with proprietary software pre-installed (laptops and
routers, not sure if there are other categories) should say something along
the lines of

=============================================================================
This device ships with proprietary software pre-installed. It can be upgraded
to free software, which is why it is listed on h-node.org.
=============================================================================

Thanks,
Ward.

-- 
Ward Vandewege             | CTO, Free Software Foundation
GPG Key: 25F774AB          | http://status.fsf.org/ward
http://fsf.org/blogs/RSS   | http://identi.ca/cure

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