www/distros common-distros.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /webcvs/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       12/04/14 22:25:26

Modified files:
        distros        : common-distros.html 

Log message:
        General clarifications.
        We don't endorse a system just because the problems we had recorded
        are fixed.
        Give more info about Debian.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/distros/common-distros.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.45&r2=1.46

Patches:
Index: common-distros.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/distros/common-distros.html,v
retrieving revision 1.45
retrieving revision 1.46
diff -u -b -r1.45 -r1.46
--- common-distros.html 6 Apr 2012 22:39:20 -0000       1.45
+++ common-distros.html 14 Apr 2012 22:24:53 -0000      1.46
@@ -42,14 +42,17 @@
 usually firmware to run some device.</p></li>
 </ul>
 
-<p>Below are additional notes about some popular GNU/Linux
-distributions, listed in alphabetical order.  This may not be a list
-of every issue; while we've done our best to be comprehensive, there
-may be other issues that we simply don't know about.  On the flip
-side, circumstances might have changed since we last updated this
-page; if you think one of the issues here has been addressed,
-please <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>let us know</a>.  We review
-all systems carefully before endorsing them.</p>
+<p>Below are specific notes about the problems of some popular
+GNU/Linux distributions, listed in alphabetical order.  These do not
+aim to be exhaustive; once we know one reason we can't endorse a
+certain distro, we do not keep looking for all the reasons.
+</p>
+
+<p>On the flip side, circumstances might have changed since we last
+updated this page; if you think one of the issues here has been
+addressed, please <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>let us know</a>.
+However, we will study and endorse the distro only if the developers
+ask for our endorsement.</p>
 
 <!-- Please keep this list sorted, first with all the GNU systems 
      alphabetically, then all the non-GNU systems alphabetically. -->
@@ -78,20 +81,19 @@
 software is &ldquo;not part of the Debian system,&rdquo; but the
 repository is hosted on many of the project's main servers, and people
 can readily learn about these nonfree packages by browsing Debian's
-online package database.  This does too much to steer users towards
-proprietary software for us to endorse it.</p>
+online package database.</p>
+
+<p>There is also a &ldquo;contrib&rdquo; repository; its packages are
+free, but some of them exist to load separately distributed
+proprietary programs.  This too is not thoroughly separated from the
+main Debian distributioh.</p>
 
 <p>Previous releases of Debian included nonfree blobs with Linux, the
 kernel.  With the release of Debian 6.0 (&ldquo;squeeze&rdquo;) in
 February 2011, these blobs have been moved out of the main
 distribution to separate packages in the nonfree repository.  However,
 the problem partly remains: the installer in some cases recommends
-these nonfree firmware files for the peripherals on the machine.
-Besides which, the nonfree repository in general is not entirely
-separated from the free Debian system.</p>
-
-<p>We think there are other problems too, but we don't have
-specifics.</p>
+these nonfree firmware files for the peripherals on the machine.</p>
 
 <h3 id="Fedora">Fedora</h3>
 
@@ -105,7 +107,7 @@
 <h3 id="Gentoo">Gentoo GNU/Linux</h3>
 
 <p>Gentoo makes it easy to install a number of nonfree programs through
-their primary package system.</p>
+its primary package system.</p>
 
 <h3 id="Mandriva">Mandriva GNU/Linux</h3>
 
@@ -160,6 +162,10 @@
 copies of Ubuntu, denying an important freedom.
 </p>
 
+<h2>Some Other Distros</h2>
+
+Here we discuss some systems that are not GNU/Linux.
+
 <h3 id="BSD">BSD systems</h3>
 
 <p>FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD all include instructions for obtaining
@@ -215,7 +221,7 @@
 <p>
 Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2012/04/06 22:39:20 $
+$Date: 2012/04/14 22:24:53 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>