Trisquel does work very well thanks in large part to the lead developer
Rubén. Unfortunately many of us still have issues due the dominance of
non-free business models. Making a usable free distribution becomes difficult
as a result.
There are lots of things that need to be worked on in the free software
movement. Many of these things are beyond Rubén's direct control.
Fortunately there are others out there. Check out the fsf for instance.
Rubén's playing an important part in making it possible to use a mostly free
system (Trisquel is 100% free although there are still parts which are
non-free in your computer unrelated to your operating system).
The community has set a goal (missed, but we are still working on it anyway)
of getting 100 members by the end of January 2012(?). This effort is helping
to fund the project.
Right now the project does not make enough to fund a developer full time.
Rubén has been working hard on Trisquel for many years and it would be nice
if we could raise enough money for him to dedicate his full attention to the
project.
If you are able become a member do so! You don't have to contribute much if
you aren't able.
https://trisquel.info/en/member
There are other ways to help fund the project. Besides working to improve
support for free and truly free operating systems like Trisquel (most of all)
my company is donating 25% of the profits when you purchase hardware through
http://libre.thinkpenguin.com/. We also donate to other free projects like
the free software foundation amongst others depending on where you get it
from. All purchases help in a number of ways though. We are focused on
end-users and improving support for free software wherever that leads us.
Such as getting the source code to firmware released where there are no
alternatives. Our entire catalog is free software compatible. We specifically
make sure Trisquel is well supported.
You can also donate a lump sum too although as a member you will probably end
up donating more over time. It also won't be as much of a burden.
There are other projects which need your help that Trisquel relies on. The
drivers/firmware that we are working to get the code for is one good example.
Spreading the message that non-free drivers/firmware are problematic is
something everybody agrees on. Both the guys distributing non-free
distributions and free distributions. You could help by recommending
solutions to this problem on other forums. Non-free distributions included.
That is those having problems with wireless cards like: braodcom, intel,
ralink, realtek, etc or Nvidia/ATI. It is really simple to fix. Replace the
card (where possible) and/or don't buy further hardware dependent on non-free
drivers/firmware. Users have to demand freedom friendly hardware if things
are going to improve.
