Trisquel: A fully free GNU/Linux distribution

2025-06-20

After spending more time reading through the Free Software Foundation website I decided to try out one of their recommended free GNU/Linux distributions: Trisquel. I’m perfectly happy with Mint but the idealist in me wanted to at least try the ideal free distro. Would it work for me? When I made the decision to leave Apple for GNU/Linux I had not yet begun to consider the finer details of the ethics of a fully free or libreOS. I just new that Mint was suggested as one of the easiest for beginner distributions and that was enough in that moment. But now that I know what I know about the ethics and ideals, I also understand the practical implications of defending and holding to that ideal. If possible, I want to do that because it’s a priority that I live my ethics. Why just go half way? I expect to write more about that soon, for now, back to the installation!

A screenshot showing the Abrowser open to the trisquel website

My trisquel powered computer, ready to go

I downloaded Trisquel with the KDE desktop, flashed a usb stick, then booted the Lenovo laptop off the stick. It booted with no problem though wifi didn’t work because it’s a fully free distro which means most wifi cards are not supported because they contain closed source, proprietary drives/firmware. I plugged in to ethernet and enjoyed it for a couple hours. Enough to know that I was interested in installing it on the desktop Mini.

Screenshot showing a pdf on the left side of the screen and the Dolphin file manager app on the right side of the screen.

A pdf and the Dolphin file manager

I backed up the desktop Mini’s home directory and boot it into Trisquel. Aside from wifi everything was working as expected, even bluetooth which was somewhat surprising. The install took 10 minutes. I copied everything back over from the backup of my home folder then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening downloading apps, setting up email accounts and customizing the KDE desktop. I really like my current configuration in Mint so I’ve set this up the same way.

A screenshot with a small web browser window in the top left of the screen and an Emacs window being used to edit text. The wallpaper of the computer is a painting/illustration of a rainy woodland with a large A-Frame style cabin

Lofi playing in a web browser, Emacs opened to my OBTF

After two full days of use I’m feeling pretty well settled in with the same apps and workflow. It feels very similar in use. The KDE Plasma desktop on Trisquel is somewhat different from the Cinnamon desktop on Mint but this is mostly just noticable in terms of customizing things like panels, themes, etc. The Application Menu in the panel has a different look but serves the exact same purpose, same for the Dolphin file manager. KDE Plasma includes KRunner, a search and launch utility similar to Apple’s Spotlight and that’s a welcome addition. Of course, being based on KDE the default apps tend to be different.

And because Trisquel ensures that all apps are fully libre they do not include Firefox and Thunderbird but, rather, a debranded fork of each: Abrowser and Icedove Mail. In addition to the logo/branding removal required so that they meet the strict definition of free software, it seems various mods of each are in place to improve privace, security and to bring them into better alignment with free software goals. For example, the default search engine in Abrowser is DuckDuckGo HTML, a version of DuckDuckGo that does not use JavaScript (JavaScript is problematic as it often includes proprietary licenses. Read more at FSF.) While Abrowser works fairly well it is based on a slightly older version of Firefox and I’m not sure how often it is updated but it lacks features found in the current version of Firefox like side tabs. I mention this as I suspect that as I spend more time here I’ll notice similar differences in other apps. (Edit to note: A user over on the trisquel forums shared the Sidebery extension that enables side tabs in Abrowser and it works very well. YAY!! Oooooops, and another edit, another user on the trisquel forums pointed out that it is possible to set vertical tabs in preferences. I don't know how I missed it because I looked more than once! But, I did miss it and it is possible! That said, the above mentioned Sidebery extension has a nifty little feature to create groups of tabs arranged in panels along the top of the sidebar. It may be better than the native feature. I'll try them both.

Another notable example, the version of Emacs that ships with Trisquel 11 is 27.1 which dates back to 2020. It’s worth highlighting at this point that the mission of Trisquel isn’t to offer the most up-to-date apps with the newest wiz-bang features. The mission is to offer freedom respecting, non-proprietary software. The point here is to understand the importance of the ethics over convenience. One of the problems of the culture of the nations of the Global North is our headlong rush into the latest and greatest with too little regard for the ethics and values that often underly that rush. Hint: It’s not respect of users’ freedom and privacy. And on a larger more general scale, it’s a culture that also fails to consider a broad range of human and ecological problems such adoption causes.

I’m only a few days in to using Trisquel but I’m generally happy with the software that is included. I’ll choose the ethical option over convenience. Given how much of my lifetime is spent computing, I’ve realized how important it is for me to take full responsibility for understanding and appreciating the process. And along with that I want to recognize the time, energy and commitment of those that make it happen. The folks at Trisquel have a page, How Trisquel is Made, that provides an interesting peak into the development process. They also publish a page: Software that does not respect Free System Distribution Guidelines which provides a listing of the problematic applications and what steps have been taken to bring them into alignment. Taken together, both pages provide additional, helpful context in understanding the scope of the work in maintaining and building Trisquel so that it continues to meet the standard of a fully free operating system. Along the same lines I’m going to start volunteering some time to help update the Free Software Directory. They offer a weekly IRC meeting on Fridays for folks interested in helping out and I attended my first today and was able to log my first entry. Woot!

It’s all got me thinking about how all of this interconnects with our larger ethical frameworks. Free software is just one manifestation of a larger value system. More soon.

I don't have comments but I love email or you can find me on Mastodon.

Share this post

❤️