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    "free" distributions

    I'm in danger of going quasi religious on this 'cos I think big business is the epitome of evil (read: big fan of RMS).

    Soooo I've been checking free distributions as in those which do not ship with any closed source code. Obviously that jacks the buntus out of the window straight away...

    I've found this website and wondered, if anybody had tried any of them? I am particularly interested in whether they are rolling or static release models.

    At the moment I'm on Arch which is as free as you want it seeing that it comes as a barebones system, but I'm just nosy...
    Once your problem is solved please mark the topic of the first post as SOLVED so others know and can benefit from your experience! / FAQ

    #2
    Re: "free" distributions

    Not sure I have been that pedantic in search of "free" but I am wondering do those users have difficulty, say with drivers, playing certain media types and enjoying all the web has to offer? Maybe they just don't use those things.
    How often can you get this quality for free.

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      #3
      Re: "free" distributions

      Well, yes and no. I believe you can listen to mp3s using free software that has nowt to do with the Fraunhofer patent, but encoding is only possible into ogg afaik.

      Also not sure about flash, but that is a travesty anyway! html5 is hopefully going to get rid of that particular problem.

      There are open source graphic drivers for ati (not ideal, I know) and nvidia (nouveau not there yet, either) but if you want to get some wireless working you are out on your own...

      As always, beware of what you buy and you should be okay
      Once your problem is solved please mark the topic of the first post as SOLVED so others know and can benefit from your experience! / FAQ

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        #4
        Re: "free" distributions

        When asked if I wanted to install codec pack on installation I believe I said yeah sure, can never have to many codecs hehee. Nouveau is one to watch for although nvidias drivers work fine. Interesting topic. I would be glad to see the back of flash though, in favour of silverlight. Runs away fast and hides shaking in the corner.
        How often can you get this quality for free.

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          #5
          Re: "free" distributions

          Runs away fast and hides shaking in the corner.
          Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it being M$ I'm sure it is capable of DRM in some form - meaning it controls you rather than the other way round.
          Once your problem is solved please mark the topic of the first post as SOLVED so others know and can benefit from your experience! / FAQ

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            #6
            Re: "free" distributions

            Originally posted by toad
            Runs away fast and hides shaking in the corner.
            Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it being M$ I'm sure it is capable of DRM in some form - meaning it controls you rather than the other way round.
            Let me explain, I am a windows programmer and my WPF (windows presentation foundation) skills are directly usable in silverlight using the same xaml mark-up, Hence I could probably write neat stuff in silverlight and not in flash which I would have to learn from scratch. not sure how DRM would be an issue other than controlling media files which is an entirely separate issue. XAML is open source in the same way html is but of course the code behind wouldn't be. Anyway as you can see I have motives for what I said. I think the mono equivalent of silverlight is moonlight but maybe someone can correct me on that.
            How often can you get this quality for free.

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              #7
              Re: "free" distributions

              yes the moonlight is our sliverlight equilvent.. but most of us won't use it the same as most of us won't use mono, may i suggest leaning QT , its powerful, free , and crossplatform, did i mention it uses C++ ...
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                #8
                Re: "free" distributions

                Originally posted by sithlord48
                yes the moonlight is our sliverlight equilvent.. but most of us won't use it the same as most of us won't use mono, may i suggest leaning QT , its powerful, free , and crossplatform, did i mention it uses C++ ...
                +1

                In addition to downloading and installing all the Qt4stuff in the repository be sure to install QtCreator. As one who used MSVC++ 6.0 for several years to program Qt4 applications on Windows, I can see without fear of contradiction that QtCreator is MUCH BETTER than MSVC++ 6.0.
                "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
                – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.

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