Whonix ™ Policy On Non-Freedom Software

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Introduction

The Whonix ™ project is a Freedom Software project. (Why?)

• 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 ™ is not a Freedom Software maximalist project, since it does not adhere to the Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG) (forum discussion). However, 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

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

Table: Whonix ™ Policy on Non-Freedom Software

Category	Description
Permitted Topics	Helping users who ask about non-freedom software; for example - "How do I use Wickr?" Answer: "See the Wickr wiki page." Community-contributed documentation about popular non-freedom software such as VMware and Hyper-V. Discussions about Freedom Software that do or might contain Miscellaneous Threats to User Freedom, for example that rely on Non-Freedom server software such as the Telegram Client (Freedom Software) that requires connections to the Telegram server (Non-Freedom Software). Discussion about Freedom Software alternatives to non-freedom software; for example - "What's a Libre alternative to team viewer?" Answer: "See the Remote Administration wiki page." Running Whonix ™ on top of non-freedom operating systems such as Windows and macOS. Non-freedom Firmware Security and Updates and Processor Microcode Updates.
Prohibited Topics	Unsolicited recommendations of non-freedom applications; for example - "How do I use remote support?" Answer: "Use anydesk" (prohibited). Debates about the features and security of closed vs Open Source Software are unwelcome.
Contributions to Non-Freedom Software	Examples include Non-freedom software hypervisors such as VMware and Hyper-V. Unless paying for premium support (and hosted on separate website if hosted), it must be hosted without references to the Whonix ™ trademark and website.
Non-Freedom Firmware for upcoming Whonix-Host	The current position on nonfreedom software: Mostly theoretic since it will take a long time until Whonix-Host will be released. non-freedom firmware technical-only forum discussion non-freedom software project philosophy discussion
Policy Rationale	This policy has been devised for the following reasons: Avoiding endless, circular and non-productive debates. Clearly defining the Whonix ™ project philosophy. Avoiding Non-Freedom Software Community Feedback Policy Brand protection - the Whonix ™ project is known to be a Freedom Software project that routes all communications over the Tor network. It is undesirable to harm this brand by bundling it with unnecessary non-freedom software components.

See Also

• 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

Footnotes

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