GNU Linux-Libre 6.2 Kernel Is Here for Software Freedom Lovers

Alexandre Oliva announced today the release and general availability of the GNU Linux-libre 6.2 kernel for those who seek 100% freedom for their GNU/Linux computers and software freedom lovers.

Based on the recently released Linux 6.2 kernel series, the GNU Linux-libre 6.2 kernel (codenamed “la quinceañera”) is here to the 15th anniversary of the initial release of the Linux-libre project by Jeff Moe.

It cleans up new blob requests in the open-source Nouveau graphics driver for NVIDIA GPUs, adjusts the cleaning up of the Radeon GPU and mt7921 Wi-Fi drivers, cleans up new blobs in the vgxy61 driver, and disables blob requests in the mt7622, mt7996 Wi-Fi, and bcm4377 Bluetooth drivers.

This release also disables blob names in several new AArch64 (ARM64) DTS files, removes the cleaning up of the s5k4ecgx driver, removes commented-out notes and code about not cleaning up the PCMCIA configuration file requests and SOF free firmware requests, and updates blob names in many other drivers.

“This release cycle had a reminder of the early days of Linux-libre, in which Linux carried tons of actual blobs disguised as source code: v6.2 upstream introduced a brand new old-fashioned sourceless binary blob disguised as a sequence of numbers, i.e. binary object code encoded as pseudo-sources,” said Alexandre Oliva. “They are not an attack on our freedom, so they stay.”

However, the GNU Linux-libre kernel doesn’t ship with non-free components as the upstream kernel, which means that it’s targeted at software freedom lovers who want to build a 100% free GNU/Linux computer without any proprietary drivers or code. You can download the latest release right now from the official website.

The GNU Linux-libre kernel can be installed on virtually any GNU/Linux distribution, but the developers also provide ready-to-use binary packages for Debian-based (DEB) and Red Hat-based (RPM) distributions. For more details check out the Freesh project and RPM Freedom.

Image credits: GNU Linux-libre project

Last updated 1 month ago

Cookie	Duration	Description
__qca	1 year	Quantserve (Quantcast) sets this cookie to store and track audience reach. It may store your IP address.
CONSENT	2 years	YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
disqus_unique	1 year	Set to record internal statistics for anonymous visitors.
UID	2 years	Scorecard Research sets this cookie for browser behaviour research.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_gads	1 year	Google AdSense sets the _gads cookie to provide ad delivery or retargeting. It doesn't store personal data.
addtl_consent	1 year	This is a "CookieConsent" cookie set by Google AdSense on the user's device to store consent data to remember if they accepted or rejected the consent banner.
cto_bundle	1 year	Criteo sets this cookie to provide functions across pages.
euconsent-v2	1 year	This is a "CookieConsent" cookie set by Google AdSense on the user's device to store consent data to remember if they accepted or rejected the consent banner.
mc	1 year 1 month	Quantserve (Quantcast) sets the mc cookie to anonymously track user behavior on the website.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE	5 months 27 days	A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC	session	YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices	never	YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id	never	YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_dlt	1 day	No description
trc_cookie_storage	1 year	This cookie is set by Taboola, a public advertising company, and it's used for assigning a unique user ID that is used for attribution and reporting purposes.