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

This kernel is targeted at those who want to build a 100% free computer that doesn't include any proprietary code.
Marius Nestorby Marius Nestor0
GNU Linux-Libre 6.2

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 year ago

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com