GNU/Linux, FLOSS, and Ubuntu

[Michael R. Head]

On Sat, 2007-08-25 at 14:12 -0400, Jimmy Wu wrote:
> Hello list,
> 
> I've been spending a little bit of time on gnu.org (interesting
> reading), and it claims that most of the popular Linux distros come
> packaged with "non-free" software.  The list of completely free
> GNU/Linux distros is woefully short, and does not include Ubuntu.
> That puzzled me, because I thought the whole Ubuntu philosophy was big
> on free software.  
> 
> Could someone please explain the relationship between Ubuntu and GNU, 
> and does anyone know what parts of the default Ubuntu installation, if
> any, are restricted/non-free/proprietary?

Fire up synaptic (System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager).
Click the "Origin" button. You'll see archive.ubuntu.com/restricted (and
maybe a archive.ubuntu.com/multiverse). 
Select one of those package origins, and you can see all the non-free
packages installed or otherwise available.

> Thanks,
> 
> Jimmy 
-- 
Michael R. Head <burner at suppressingfire.org>
http://picasaweb.google.com/demiri.head.wedding