Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Why contains in nonfree that's not ethical?

[Will Hill]

I talk a little about running Virtual Box in my x61s write up.

http://50.80.140.55/photo_album/chron/desktop/thinkpad/x61s.html

I've only seen Qemu run on an Elive CD, and it was awesome, but I don't know 
how to run it myself.  Virtual Box is click and drool easy now.  

I don't think you will get into non free software is you use a libre 
distribution like Trisquel, or stick to the main Debian repositories.  Life 
is easier in many other ways if you do that.  

This has worked well for me, but tsclient, krdc, remmina, etc, have worked 
better.  I've managed to run old Windows systems by installing them or by 
making a virtual machine out of old hard drives.  It's easier to get IT 
people to keep a Windows machine for you and fix it so you can do your tasks 
from within a modern window manager.  

The disadvantage is that you are dealing with malicious software.  Software 
owners hate your freedom and every foothold on your computer is bad news for 
you.  

I have spent a good deal of time telling medical OEMs that they would be 
better off with free software.  They actually listen but defeatism runs deep.  
Windows Vista and every version since  has made people more receptive.  




On Tuesday 17 March 2015, Michael Siepmann wrote:
> What about running Windows as a virtual machine in VirtualBox on
> GNU/Linux?  That's what I'm doing currently.  I'd appreciate any
> insights or advice about the pros and cons of that approach.