After listening to Jeff’s call with Richard Stallman I was trying to better understand what GNU/Linux in the context of “free” software means. From reading the explanations on his gnu.org website any distro to be considered truly “free” it must not contain any “…nonfree applications, nonfree programming platforms, nonfree drivers, nonfree firmware “blobs,…”. There are only 8 such distributions for PC’s listed on the gnu.org see here List of Free GNU/Linux Distributions - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
So does this mean that any distro not on this list (i.e. Zorin, mint…) is not truly a “free” distro”?
Hey @isheinblat,
All Linux distributions are free on the software side. The only ones you see that have a token payment (like Zorin Pro and Elementary OS), is because of the service provided to package and test the distribution, plus the customizations done to it.
Another distro that is “non-free” (which does not mean proprietary) is the RHEL (RedHat Enterprise Linux), where they have an annual service fee, where they provide constant tech support for your business.
On the software side, all distros are free. For example, you can download Zorin Core and add the apps yourself. Though it won’t have all the customizations available on the get-go (though you can add them yourself). On the RHEL, there is the community-supported CentOS.