Free GNU/LINUX Distro vs Non-Free GNU/LINUX Distro

[firewall]

All GNU/Linux distributions now can be categorized in Free Gnu/Linux distributions and non- free Gnu/Linux distributions

Free GNU/Linux distributions are those that have a policy not to include, or recommend, non-free software. Such is not the case with non-free GNU/Linux distributions.

We use Linux-based GNU systems today for all of our work, and we hope you will use them too. Today there are many GNU/Linux distros. Most of them include non-free software--their developers follow the philosophy associated with Linux rather than that of GNU. But there are also completely free GNU/Linux distros ,like

* UTUTO-e, a GNU/Linux distribution containing only free software.
* Dynebolic, The instant bootable GNU/Linux
* BLAG, blag linux and gnu
* GNUstep, another instant bootable GNU/Linux distribution


So what we are using might be a Gnu/Linux system since it consists of the Linux kernel and Gnu software but it might not be a Free Gnu/Linux System

A simple example is

http://packages.debian.org/stable/allpackages

look for the non-free software in the above package list

With debian you have the option to get a debian distribution that does not contain non-free software,but such is not the case with all Gnu/linux distributions.

What is non-free software?

Non-free software is any software that is not free. This includes semi-free software and proprietary software.

follow this link for more reading
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/catego...n-freeSoftware

[vignesh]

So Suse and Red Hat enterprise come under non- free Gnu/Linux distributions.

[GNUrag]

Originally Posted by vignesh

So Suse and Red Hat enterprise come under non- free Gnu/Linux distributions.

Its rather simple to judge. RedHat comes with Sun Microsystem's JDK preinstalled, which is a non-free software. Novell's distro comes preinstalled with java, flash, realplayer preinstalled which are again non-free software. They insist on providing everything that users are able to find on windows. However free alternatives to java, flash, realplayer do exist but they are not exactly identical to their non-free counterparts.