Fwd: Most 'Free' Linux distro

[Ben Finney]

Allan Irving
<allanirving at allanirving.co.uk> writes:

> What is regarded as the most free linux distro?

How do you measure “most free”? Why must there be a single “most free”?
I'd rather look at what the remaining barriers are in a given operating
system and address those.

> Is there an already existing distro that is in line with the FSF
> ideals?

The FSF maintains a set of guidelines for an operating system to be
considered free <URL:https://www.gnu.org/distros/>, and there you can
find which ones the FSF currently considers to be free.

> I use Debian for servers at the moment and I am looking into Debian or
> Arch as a desktop distro.

The FSF refuses to list Debian because the Debian Project also makes
some non-free software available for users (the ‘contrib’ and ‘non-free’
areas, not enabled by default), which is not part of the Debian
operating system.

If you leave the repositories at the default Debian settings – that is,
only the Debian operating system and not anything outside Debian (only
the ‘main’ area of the archive is actually part of Debian) – it is a
free software distribution by the Debian Free Software Guidelines.

-- 
 \       “The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in |
  `\    the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.” |
_o__)                                                —Henry L. Mencken |
Ben Finney