Whonix ™ Policy On Non-Freedom Software
Introduction[edit]
The Whonix ™ project is a Freedom Software project. (Why?)
Category | Description |
---|---|
Amount of Freedom Software contained inside Whonix ™ VM images | 100%
|
Amount of Whonix ™ source code under Freedom Software licenses | 100%
|
Installed default non-freedom software packages inside downloadable Whonix ™ VM images | none
|
Non-freedom source code inside Whonix ™ source code | none
|
Whonix ™ recommends to Avoid Non-Freedom Software and will not bundle any unnecessary, major non-freedom software software components or contribute to these.
Platform Specific[edit]
Whonix ™ supports multiple virtualizers. VirtualBox is one among them. For VirtualBox specific Freedom Software issues vs non-issues, see VirtualBox Open Source vs Closed Source
.
Policy on Non-Freedom Software[edit]
Table: Whonix ™ Policy on Non-Freedom Software
Category | Description |
---|---|
Permitted Topics |
|
Prohibited Topics |
|
Contributions to Non-Freedom Software |
|
Non-Freedom Firmware for upcoming Whonix-Host |
The current position on nonfreedom software:
|
Policy Rationale | This policy has been devised for the following reasons:
|
GNU FSDG Free System Distribution Guidelines[edit]
GNU project's Free GNU/Linux distributions page lists the GNU/Linux distributions that are entirely free as in freedom. It however lists only operating systems primarily run as host operating system.
Until the first stable version of Whonix-Host gets available, this is one reason Whonix ™ cannot fully comply with Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG) and can therefore cannot yet be added to the list. (forum discussion
).
To understand the following table with GNU FSDG requirements and the self-assessment by Whonix ™, the reader must probably read the GNU project's Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG) first.
Table: GNU FSDG Self-Assessment by Whonix ™
GNU FSDG Requirement | Self-Assessment by Whonix ™ |
---|---|
Complete Distros | This is not possible because Whonix ™ is primarily run inside virtual machines while GNU's list only lists host operating systems. |
All information for practical use in a free distribution must be available in source form. | Passed. |
The information, and the source, must be provided under an appropriate free license. | Passed. |
A free system distribution must not steer users towards obtaining any nonfree information for practical use, or encourage them to do so. | A few popularly requested applications such as Wickr are documented but discouraged in documentation. |
The system should have no repositories for nonfree software | Whonix ™ is based on Debian. The contrib and nonfree repository is enabled by default for better usability but no packages from these repositories are ever installed by default as per policy. (forum discussion![]() |
The system no specific recipes for installation of particular nonfree programs | A few popularly requested applications such as Wickr are documented but discouraged in documentation. |
Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) | Passed. There is no built-in DRM. |
Nonfree Firmware | Passed. See above chapter. |
Trademarks | Passed. See Trademark Policy. |
All the documentation in a free system distribution must be released under an appropriate free license. | Passed. |
Additionally, it must take care not to recommend nonfree software. | Nonfreedom-software is discouraged. |
Patents | Passed. |
No Malware | Passed. |
Commitment to Correct Mistakes | Yes. |
distribution should be actively maintained | Passed. |
Name Confusion | Passed, there is no name confusion. |
Please Teach Users about Free Software | Passed. |
Please Avoid Repeating Propaganda and Confusion | Passed. |
Issues inherited from Debian | Since Whonix ™ is based on Debian, it inherits all FSDG issues that Debian is affected by. LibrePlanet has a long list of Debian FSDG issues![]() |
See Also[edit]
- Why Whonix ™ is Freedom Software
- Unsubstantiated Conclusions
- Avoid Non-Freedom Software
- Miscellaneous Threats to User Freedom
- Forum discussion: Whonix ™ Policy On Non-Freedom Software
- non-freedom, proprietary, closed source firmware, CPU microcode and drivers