I have mostly used Trisquel mostly inside a KVM-based virtual machine. So I
am not shure if my experiences really count but there you go:
Unfortunately on my hardware (GeForce 9800GT) 3D acceleration is cumbersome.
This is not really a problem of Trisquel itself but the old version of the
Noveau driver included with the older Ubuntu versions on which Trisquel is
based. I have seen my graphic adapter perform much better at an acceptable
level with the latest Knoppix (6.7 ?) using a newer version of Noveau. Those
of you with NVidia cards will experience big issues with Noveau when you try
to play games (e.g. Alien Arena, Xonotic, Open Arena).
For general use (E-Mail, surfing the web, watch Youtube, writting some text)
I think Trisquel and the alikes are perfectly fine. Thanks to the Trisquel
team for that. I will definitely consider using Trisquel instead of Ubuntu
the next time I set up a PC for friends or relatives.
Even the free alternatives to watch Youtube and other flashbased video sites
are acceptable. This is great.
Most PCs nowadays are overkill for most average users anyway. Personally I
think as much as Trisquel succeed in freeing the user in one aspect, it
massively fails in other aspects and a more wider focus. It is important that
the reasons for this are not directly related to Trisquel itself but the way
current hardware is build.
By excluding non-free firmware files, which is perfectly fine from the
perspective of free software, any free Linux distribution out there put the
average user in a position which I find questionable in regard to the general
freedom of the user and in regard to other aspects. I will try to elabourate
with my hardware and usage profile as examples:
Not fully working 3D for gaming on NVidia cards:
All my system sport NVidia cards (GeForce 9500GT / 9800GT). I like to play a
FPS now and then (Alien Arena, Xonotic, UT99, Darkplaces with different mods)
and the more recent versions of Noveau are nearly perfectly capable of
providing me the functionality I want. Unfortunately the version of Noveau
shipped with Ubuntu are rather old and provide a bad experience. This is not
really the fault of Trisquel but may be providing a newer version of Noveau
in the Trisquel repo compared to the corresponding Ubuntu version will help.
This requires man power of course.
Here is where rolling release distributions such as Parabola really shine.
You get the latest working drivers in a rather short timeframe.
No working video acceleration (VAAPI / VDPAU):
As far as I am aware neither the free AMD/ATI nor NVidia drivers provide
reasonable video acceleration similar to the propritary GPU drivers. This
means that you either need to have a beefy CPU (at least faster than my AMD
X2 with 2x2.7 GHz) in order to watch 1080p material encoded in h264 or you
relly on external devices (e.g. hardware player attached to your TV).
Issues with mostly external devices relying on non-free firmware:
This is by far the biggest issue I personally have with each distribution
excluding non-free firmware files. A lot of my devices rely on firmware files
such as the NIC on my motherboard, my Hauppauge PVR150 (PCI), my DVB-T
receivers (USB) or simply my Agfa e20 scanner (USB). I could find "free"
alternatives like using a USB NIC instead of the mainboard NIC, use an
external DVB-X receiver instead the USB receiver but for me this is both not
acceptable. A USB NIC does not make me more "free" than the internal NIC
which relies on a blob. Free as free software yes but I would need both to
waste personal ressources (money / time) to buy hardware most likely produced
in a non-free country under bad conditions for the workers. Take your time to
think about it !
Using an external DVB-S/C/T receiver as replacement for my current USB DVB-T
box attached to my PC would again be a valid option from the puristic
perspective of free software. Again it fails for me because of the same
reasons as above: My personal freedom as user is much more restricted by a
propritary box with propritary software on it than from a simple blob on my
Linux box. I have much more control and flexibility with a device which
integrates into my PC than I will have from a DVB-S HDD receiver. Also I
would was personal ressources (money / time) to buy hardware most likely
produced in a non-free country under bad conditions for the workers.
For some areas I think no valid hardware options without non-free firmware
exist or at least they are not widely available and have a high pricepoint.
By supporting manufactures which provide a better free software experience
(e.g. buying an Intel-based CPU with Intel-based GPU) you endanger the market
in another way. Just imagine if we would have only Intel again providing
PC-based hardware as several years ago when AMD couldn't compete
performance-wise. Prices would explode again.
To sum it up:
Trisquel is a nice OS but under the current conditions limits the abilities
of the user in some aspects. If you can deal with this limitations is up to
you. I can and will not shell out another few hundered euros (fast quadcore
CPU, DVB-C/S receiver) simply to be "free" but what I will do in the end is
paying more attention when buying new hardware.
Personally I do understand the ideas / concerns of the free software movement
very well but I also think that several descions produces problems in other
areas. I think manufacturers should be embraced in the first place if their
hardware runs on Linux. A firmware should be rather accepted in the first
place and work on a free firmware alternative should follow instead of
rejecting the use of the hardware by omiting firmware in the first place.
Anyway, I am not trying to preach the pope here. Everyone is free to do what
he wants.
