this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2021
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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There are a lot of free (as in freedom, libre) good games. I specially enjoy DOOM, Freeciv, 0ad and SuperTuxKart, but there are more "mainstream" kind of games which are completely free software: Veloren, Minetest, etc
However all these games will likely work just fine on this Steam console, as all the OS will be fully open-source most likely. You might have to hack it slightly to stop it from auto-starting the Steam client, but based on the likely hardware inside there isn't anything that wouldn't work on a fully libre stack (AMD GPU firmware issue aside).
The problem goes deeper than that. Libreboot is a must have
Libreboot is a smokescreen if you have other proprietary blobs on your system possibly circumventing it. You have to look at the whole PC, libreboot is no magical bullet.
Of course that it isn't. But if a device supports libreboot it means that it supports the Linux-libre kernel, so you can install a 100% free as in freedom distribution
AFAIK Libreboot is a general problem on AMD systems right now. But at least there should be nothing preventing a libreboot to work on this.
Libreboot can't be ported to post2008 machines (yet, although I don't think this is happening anytime soon) because they require proprietary blobs for booting. That's caused by Intel's ME and AMD's PSP.
So if this machine has an AMD processor, it can't be supported by Libreboot.
All the games listed minus 0ad are clones which dont really stack up.
Not one to knock free software but im not a joyless fsf member lol
Well, DOOM isn't a copy at all, since the original DOOM was realised under the GPL license. And Veloren seems to be a pretty good game, idk if it's inspired by any game but I think that it's unique.
Anyway, I think that remaining free as in freedom is way more important than playing a certain game
Okay, compare that to the dozens of thousands of proprietary games which are a lot of fun. Steam doesn't even have intrusive DRM. It's easily circumvented. I applaud that many games are available DRM free on GOG.com nowadays, but you wouldn't play them either, because they're pR0pRiEtArY™.
Art is usually proprietary. If you go to a museum, you pay an entry fee to a proprietary gallery of art. The art itself is proprietary most of the time. You can get it printed, if the copyright ran out even while only paying the print and no license, but it's still not copyleft or libre.
I like to view, consume, use art. I think artists are entitled to sell their art however they like. It's sad that you dismiss everything which isn't proprietary software.
And I don't even think you only use Open Source Software, as I'm very sure you probably didn't buy a PC without any proprietary software. Usually at least the blobs in your NIC, the BIOS/UEFI, GPU firmware or similar things are proprietary.
Do I think that's bad? Sure. But it's how things are run right now. Let's change it instead of creating our own little bubble of useless software.
You're wrong. I don't even like open source software. I exclusively use free software. And yes, I have a librebooted laptop which is my daily driver with a free, as in freedom, BIOS.
I respect artists and I think that they deserve to get paid and make a living with their art. I love visiting art galleries, reading and listening to music.
The problem with games is that they execute code in my machine. I don't want any code to be executed in my machine if I can't know exactly what it's doing. This gives me freedom and digital sovereign. This is how things should work. This is what I believe in. So no code will be run on my computer if it isn't free software.
And the software I use isn't useless at all, since I can get my job done with this software. So I guess that it's pretty useful. It isn't a little bubble, you have thousands and thousands of pieces of free software you can use. At least you need something really specialized, I bet that you can do it using free software.
Edit: fixed some typos