Trisquel 11 LTS Released As Ubuntu-Based, FSF-Approved Linux Distribution

[M@GOid]

They likely didn't remove the Firefox snap because they hate snap, but rather because Firefox isn't "free enough" for them. They already replaced the deb version in former releases.

True, but they had Snap disabled on the default ISO. I tested it now and you can install the Snap package.

[andyprough]

They likely didn't remove the Firefox snap because they hate snap, but rather because Firefox isn't "free enough" for them. They already replaced the deb version in former releases.

That and the fact that snap uses non-free servers. If snap could be a libre stack Trisquel would probably make use of it. There's a number of technologies that some of us dislike philosophically, such as systemd, that Trisquel embraces because they are free software throughout.

[andyprough]

You can simply `apt install kubuntu-desktop` or some such. It's still ubuntu.

No need, there's a dedicated KDE version called Triskel, as noted above.

[royce]

That and the fact that snap uses non-free servers.

If that's true it's weird thinking though. After all, you have plenty of other bits of software that could potentially interact with closed-source software, starting with the web browser, or curl.

[skeevy420]

If that's true it's weird thinking though. After all, you have plenty of other bits of software that could potentially interact with closed-source software, starting with the web browser, or curl.

Using a download program to download something or using the browser to browse is completely different. In both of those cases you choose to go to non-free, closed, or illegal content. You research, you input a specific source, and the tool provides you with what you requested. With Snaps you can't choose because it's always from Ubuntu. Your only choice is what program is available. Snaps skip the "input a specific source" step because the only source is Ubuntu.

Search engines are a special grey area since you request and they provide all kinds of sources outside of your control. They're like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

And before you say "that describes package management", that doesn't describe package management. With Apt, Pacman, Flatpak, DNF, etc you can edit your source lists and change hosting servers and even distributions and package providers. With Snaps you're forced to rely on Ubuntu's closed build and distribution servers. If they don't pick up your program, sucks to be you. With Flatpak you can remove Flathub and change packaging providers just like traditional package managers.

For the record, I'm not actually against Snaps. That said, I don't use them and I never will. While I understand the obvious closed server bogeyman arguments, at the same time I understand why an OS would want control over how binaries are packaged and provided.

Snap is no more nefarious than Windows Update in the closed server and packaging regard. Basically, they're only as nefarious as your trust in Canonical or Microsoft.

[PublicNuisance]

I wish I could find a recent fast enough PC where it actually works.

Running Trisquel 11 on my i5-12600K with no issues. The real issue is on the GPU side where aside from Intel onboard graphics your best option is an Nvidia GTX 780 Ti using Nouveau.

[darkoverlordofdata]

proprietary WiFi cards inevitably fail.

Really? That's not happened to me, and my laptops are both about 10 years old. I did buy a Panda Wireless, advertised as GNU friendly, when I tried Trisquel. I felt it was a failure out of the shrink wrap, it was so slow I just ended up using the ethernet connector. Not sure how it's better than proprietary tech.
I've given up on libre. Trisquel wouldn't let me install some software, and when I asked on the forums how to get it to work I was bullied and berated for daring to try to install it. Anything that did work seemed mediochre. I didn't find it 'freeing' me at all.

[andyprough]

I did buy a Panda Wireless, advertised as GNU friendly, when I tried Trisquel. I felt it was a failure out of the shrink wrap, it was so slow I just ended up using the ethernet connector.

I didn't have luck with the Panda Wireless dongle I bought a few years ago either. The best ones are the generic Atheros USB wifi dongles that the Kali Linux fans love to buy from ebay and similar web stores, in my experience. Or you can purchase more expensive Atheros wifi dongles from ThinkPenguin that are guaranteed to work.

[Apteryx]

I have purchased a few USB and one PCI-express WiFi adapters from ThinkPenguin and have never been disappointed; they all work with the *mainline* kernel, meaning there's absolutely nothing to install for them in most distributions, and they keep working reliably across kernel versions.