whelp, EPEL package updates are on a slightly different time trajectory for release, so almalinux update goes oopsie fail. gotta wait a little longer for that 9.4 goodness.
I switched my server to AlmaLinux after Debian started making mess.
Debian? Please explain.
Maybe they’re talking about including non-free firmware by default
How is that a mess?
It’s impossible to disable it (at least from the GUI). Even Ubuntu allows it. It’s a terrible change imo. Just add a toggle and make it checked by default
The current method is to set a boot parameter to opt out of non-free firmware, it’s documented in the installer manual.
It should be in the installer itself imo
I bet they considered the options. It could simply be that no one has had time to change the installer. It could also be that the people who care about free software to the degree that they want to avoid non-free firmware usually figure out how to do it, and that too many options confuse new users. I don’t know. A feature request discussion in the appropriate mailing list could be a good idea if you want change.
Wtf, why on earth would they do that? Thanks for pointing it out
Most newbies would have a hard time and most experienced people would grab the “unofficial” non-free image for installing just in case and then disable non-free if it wasn’t needed.
I’ve not verified this, but does the installer actually install the non-free firmware if it’s not needed?
New users found it hard to download the right installer if they needed non-free firmware. Experienced users know they can add firmware=never in the installer to disable firmware lookup if they want. If they want to decide on a firmware by firmware basis, that’s an option too. If the hardware doesn’t need non-free firmware it’s not installed.
Enshittification
I know “Enshittification” is the Lemmy word of the year but you can’t just call everything you don’t like enshittification.
This clearly isn’t it.
Well probably idk. It’s at least laziness of devs that decided not to add an opt-out toggle. But that’s already enshittification to some degree
I get not being a fan but no toggle switch. But in this case it literally isn’t “enshittification”. Is it anti choice? Yes. Is it enshittification? No. Enshittification does not just mean “thing I don’t like”.
Here is a quote that describes what enshittification is:
Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a “two sided market”, where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.
More info can be found here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
Not having an opt-out toggle pisses me off
It got bloated and something was affected network speeds.
I really applaud that Alma rose above all the Red Hat drama and that they now have a true community distribution. Instead of creating a bunch of dishonest noise, they improved their project. Bravo.
They still state that they are binary compatible with RHEL. They still say they target exactly the same behaviour as RHEL and that any deviation will be considered a bug. They are proving you do not have to be a parasite to be a competitor or even a drop-in replacement. Again, bravo.
They also have the freedom now to fix their own bugs if they choose. I would certainly trust their expertise over somebody that only knows how to compile SRPMS.
I really hope that “the community” sees the differentiation Alma now offers from something like Rocky and that Alma will be rewarded with commercial success. They deserve it.
Personally I am using rocky Linux. I wonder how the 2 compare nowadays
