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	{{lowercase\|gNewSense}}		{{lowercase\|gNewSense}}
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2020}}
	{{ infobox OS
			{{Use American English\|date=September 2020}}
			{{short description\|Linux distribution}}
			{{infobox OS
	\| name = gNewSense		\| name = gNewSense
	\| logo = ]		\| logo = ]
	\| screenshot = ]		\| screenshot = GNew Sense 4.0 desktop.png
	\| caption = gNewSense 2.~~1 ]~~		\| caption = gNewSense 4.0
	\| developer = ~~and~~		\| developer = Current: Matt Lee<ref name="Lee">{{Cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/next-steps/\|title=Next Steps for gNewSense\|last=Lee\|first=Matt\|website=www.gnewsense.org\|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190812161416/http://www.gnewsense.org/next-steps/ \|archive-date= 12 August 2019\|url-status= live}}</ref><br />former: Sam Geeraerts, K.Goetz, Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley
	\| ~~source_model~~ = ]		\| family = ] (])
			\| released = {{Start date and age\|2006\|11\|02}}
	\| latest_release_version = 2.1 <ref>http://www.gnewsense.org/</ref> <!-- If you update this, remember to also update ]-->
	\| ~~family~~ = ]		\| userland = ]
	\| latest_release_date = {{release date and age\|2008\|08\|24}}
	\| latest_test_version =
	\| latest_test_date =
	\| kernel_type = ]
	\| ui = ]		\| ui = ]
	\| license = ] ~~licenses~~		\| license = ]
	\| ~~working_state~~ = ~~Current~~		\| website = {{url\|http://www.gnewsense.org}}
			\| latest release version = {{wikidata\|property\|preferred\|edit\|Q305901\|P348}}<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-users/2016-05/msg00000.html \|title=[gNewSense-users] gNewSense 4.0 released \|publisher=Lists.nongnu.org \|date=2016-05-02 \|access-date=2016-05-02 \|archive-date=1 August 2020 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801052209/https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-users/2016-05/msg00000.html \|url-status=live }}</ref>
	\| website =
			\| latest release date = {{Start date and age\|{{wikidata\|qualifier\|preferred\|single\|Q305901\|P348\|P577}}}}
	\| supported_platforms = ]
			\| latest_preview_version = 4.0 Alpha 1<ref name=3beta>{{cite web\|url=http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-dev/2014-12/msg00000.html\|title=Ucclia alpha 1\|publisher=gNewSense-dev mailing list\|access-date=7 December 2014\|archive-date=10 December 2014\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210085743/http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-dev/2014-12/msg00000.html\|url-status=live}}</ref>
	\| updatemodel = ]
			\| latest_preview_date = {{Start date and age\|2014\|12\|02\|df=yes}}<ref name=3beta/>
	\| package_manager = ]
			\| marketing_target =
			\| kernel_type = ] (])
			\| working_state = discontinued<ref name="Distrowatch"/>
			\| supported_platforms = ], ], ]
			\| updatemodel = ]
			\| package_manager = ] (standard), ] (] frontend), ] (low-level system)
			\|date=July 2014
	}}		}}

			'''gNewSense''' was a ], active from 2006 to 2016. It was based on ], and developed with sponsorship from the ]. Its goal was user-friendliness, but with all ] (e.g. ]s) and non-free software removed. The Free Software Foundation considered gNewSense to be composed entirely of ].<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html \|title=List of Free GNU/Linux Distributions - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation \|publisher=Gnu.org \|access-date=2013-06-23 \|archive-date=14 December 2014 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214211526/http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/next-steps/\|title=gNewSense\|website=www.gnewsense.org\|quote=Hello, I'm Matt Lee, I've recently taken over maintaining gNewSense from Sam I'm Matt Lee: former FSF campaigns manager, I have a vision for desktop GNU/Linux that is unfulfilled.\|first=Matt\|last=Lee\|year=2019\|access-date=2019-10-05\|archive-date=12 August 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812161416/http://www.gnewsense.org/next-steps/\|url-status=live}}</ref>
	'''gNewSense''' is a version of the ] using the ] designed for users who wish to only use ] on ]s. It offers a complete graphical user interface and the full ] for developers. gNewSense is based on ], but with all ] and ]s removed. It is listed by the ] as a free operating system.<ref>http://www.gnu.org/links/links.html#FreeGNULinuxDistributions</ref>

	gNewSense ~~takes~~ a ~~very~~ strict stance ~~for~~ ~~free~~ software. For example, any documentation that ~~gives~~ instructions on installing ~~non-free~~ software is excluded<ref></ref>.		gNewSense took a relatively strict stance against proprietary software. For example, any documentation that gave instructions on installing proprietary software was excluded.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://wiki.gnewsense.org/Main/CommunityGuidelines \|title=Community guidelines – gNewSense GNU/Linux \|publisher=Wiki.gnewsense.org \|date=2010-04-30 \|access-date=2011-07-02 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902094323/http://wiki.gnewsense.org/Main/CommunityGuidelines \|archive-date=2011-09-02 \|url-status=dead }}</ref>

			gNewSense's last release was made in 2016 and it has not had a supported version since 2018. ] classifies gNewSense as "discontinued".<ref name="Distrowatch"/>
	The backing project was founded and launched by Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley in 2006. In October 2006, after the 0.85 release<ref></ref> it was given assistance by the ].<ref></ref>

	== ~~Comparison with Ubuntu~~ ==		== History ==
			The project was launched by Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley in 2006. gNewSense was originally based on ]. With the 1.0 release, the Free Software Foundation provided assistance to gNewSense.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.fsf.org/news/gnewsense \|title=gNewSense 1.0 released – Free Software Foundation \|publisher=Fsf.org \|access-date=2011-07-02 \|archive-date=9 November 2020 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109035127/https://www.fsf.org/news/gnewsense \|url-status=live }}</ref>
	Proprietary software ] are not provided by the gNewSense project, non-free documentation and artwork have been removed and the "Universe" package repository is enabled by default. In order to avoid ] that stem from the modification of ], gNewSense 1.1 rebranded it as "BurningDog". BurningDog likewise did not suggest ] ]s<ref></ref> for various web media, such as ]. gNewSense 2.0 uses the ] web browser as released by the GNOME Project.

			With no releases in two years, on 8 August 2011, ] classified gNewSense as "dormant". By September 2012 DistroWatch had changed the status to "active" again, and on 6 August 2013, the first version directly based on Debian, gNewSense 3 "Parkes", was released.<ref name="Distrowatch">{{cite web \|url=http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=gnewsense \|title=DistroWatch.com: gNewSense \|access-date=8 December 2022 \|archive-date=14 October 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014101312/http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=gnewsense \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="gNewSenseNews">{{Cite news\|url = http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/HomePage\|title = News\|access-date = 22 January 2012\|last = Goetz\|first = K.\|date = 12 October 2011\|work = gNewSense\|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120205014929/http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/HomePage\|archive-date = 5 February 2012\|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name="gnewsense1">{{cite web \|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/FAQ#Why_is_gNewSense_3_based_on_Debian_instead_of_Ubuntu.3F \|title=FAQ – gNewSense GNU/Linux \|publisher=gNewSense \|access-date=2014-07-19 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508111625/http://www.gnewsense.org/FAQ#Why_is_gNewSense_3_based_on_Debian_instead_of_Ubuntu.3F \|archive-date=2015-05-08 \|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Sneddon08Aug13">{{cite news\|url = http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/08/gnewsense-drops-ubuntu-for-latest-release\|title = gNewSense 3 Released, Is No Longer Based on Ubuntu\|access-date = 10 August 2013\|last = Sneddon\|first = Joey\|date = 8 August 2013\|work = OMG Ubuntu\|archive-date = 11 August 2013\|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130811062130/http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/08/gnewsense-drops-ubuntu-for-latest-release\|url-status = live}}</ref>
	=== Limitations===
	Over one hundred pieces of ] ] were removed from the Ubuntu kernel to make gNewSense. Such removals include support for some ] cards, and therefore gNewSense currently supports a more limited range of wireless network cards than other GNU/Linux distributions. 3D graphics and application support were also removed by May 1st, 2008 <ref>http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Deltah</ref> because of license issues<ref></ref> with ]. The major issue with Mesa 3D has been resolved by September 19, 2008, however there are still licensing issues pending before the FSF and the gNewSense developers consider MESA free software <ref>http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2008-09-sgi-announcement</ref>.

			There have been several indications that it may be restarted, including a website announcement in 2019, but the project has remained inactive, with no releases since 2016. DistroWatch returned it to "dormant" status again in 2019 and "discontinued" by 2022.<ref name="Lee"/><ref name="Distrowatch"/>
	== Comparison with Debian ==

			{{As of\|2021\|4\|13}}, the home page of the project's website displayed a blank page with a ] labelling the Free Software Foundation a ]. After a short time, the website then redirected to the home page of the ] website.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/\|title=gNewSense\|access-date=April 13, 2021\|website=gNewSense \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210413013721/http://gnewsense.org\|archive-date= 13 April 2021\|url-status=dead}}</ref>
	] is another GNU/Linux distribution noted by strict licensing. gNewSense excludes non-free software that Debian includes (such as proprietary ]) and does not have repositories for non-free software (which Debian has). It should be noted, however, that gNewSense also includes documentation that the Debian project considers non-free, particularly that licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License with invariant sections.<ref></ref>

			However, as of June 2021, it now redirects to the FSF's list of Free/Libre distros.<ref>{{Cite web\|title=gNewSense\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/\|access-date=2021-07-01\|website=gnewsense.org\|archive-date=28 February 2012\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228055844/http://www.gnewsense.org/\|url-status=live}}</ref>

	== Technical aspects ==		== Technical aspects ==
			]

			By default gNewSense uses ]. The ] can be customized with the user's choice of ], ], and other desktop environments available to install through its hosted repositories.<ref> {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727011448/http://wiki.gnewsense.org/Documentation#Introduction_to_the_Desktop_Environment \|date=2014-07-27 }} gnewsense.org</ref>
	By default gNewSense uses ], the official ] of the ] operating system.

	~~Like Ubuntu, gNewSense has good~~ ] and focuses on software ~~freedom.{{Fact~~\|~~date=September 2008}} The~~ Ubiquity installer allows installing to the hard disk from within the Live CD environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to installation.		The ] installer allows installing to the hard disk from within the ] environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to installation.<ref> {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175407/http://wiki.gnewsense.org/Documentation/InstallingGNewSense#Using_the_Live_CD \|date=2016-03-03 }} gnewsense.org</ref>

	Besides standard system tools and other small applications, gNewSense comes installed with the following software: the ] productivity suite, ~~the~~ ~~Internet~~ ~~browser~~ ], the ~~instant messenger~~ ], and the ] ]. Common ] tools including the ] ~~and~~ ~~the~~ ] ] ~~are~~ ~~installed~~ by ~~default~~.		Besides standard system tools and other small applications, gNewSense comes installed with the following software: the ] productivity suite,<ref name="PhoronixGNewSense4">{{cite web\|url = https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=gNewSense-4-Released\|title = FSF-Approved gNewSense 4 GNU/Linux Distribution Released - Phoronix\|access-date = 31 March 2019\|last = Larabel\|first = Michael\|date = 6 May 2016\|archive-date = 31 March 2019\|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190331042808/https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=gNewSense-4-Released\|url-status = live}}</ref> ], the ] instant messenger, and the ] for editing photos and other ]. Common ] tools including the ] are installed by default.<ref> {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727011448/http://wiki.gnewsense.org/Documentation#Using_gNewSense \|date=2014-07-27 }} gnewsense.org</ref>

	=== Installation ===		=== Installation ===
			The ] can be used to run the operating system and to install onto disk. CD images are available for download.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Download\|title=Download - gNewSense GNU/Linux\|access-date=26 May 2015\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206115438/http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Download\|archive-date=6 December 2017\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

			=== Versions ===
	The same CD can be used to run the distro as a ] and to install. CD images are available for download.
			gNewSense has made four major releases:

			{\| class="wikitable"
	Alternatively, gNewSense 2.0 is available pre-installed on computers from Los Alamos Computers.<ref>{{cite web
			\|-
	\|url=http://laclinux.com/gnu/News#20080501.1
			! Version
	\|title=LAC Now Shipping gNewSense 2.0 Systems
			! ]
	}}</ref>
			! style="width:90px" \| Release date
			! Supported until
			! Based on
			! Supported architectures
			\|-
			\| <!--Version-->{{Version \|o \|1.0}}
			\| <!--Code name-->''DeltaD''
			\| <!--Release date--> 2006-11-02
			\| <!--Supported until--> {{Version \|o \| 2008-05-01}}
			\| <!--Based on-->] 6.06 "Dapper Drake"
			\| <!--Supported architectures--> {{n/a}}
			\|-
			\| <!--Version-->{{Version \|o \|2.0}}
			\| <!--Code name-->''DeltaH''
			\| <!--Release date--> 2008-04-30
			\| <!--Supported until-->{{Version \|o \|2014-01-03}}
			\| <!--Based on-->] 8.04 "Hardy Heron"
			\| <!--Supported architectures--> {{n/a}}
			\|-
			\| <!--Version-->{{Version \|o \|3.0}}<ref name="gnewsense1"/><ref name="Sneddon08Aug13" /><ref> {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142809/https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130826#feature \|date=12 June 2018 }}, ''DistroWatch Weekly''</ref>
			\| <!--Code name-->''Parkes''
			\| <!--Release date--> 2013-08-06
			\| <!--Supported until--> {{Version \|o \| 2015-12-31<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-dev/2015-10/msg00007.html\|title=Re: Likely EoL date for gNewSense 3.1\|website=lists.nongnu.org\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=4 March 2016\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304131827/http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-dev/2015-10/msg00007.html\|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
			\| <!--Based on-->] 6.0 "Squeeze"
			\| <!--Supported architectures--> i386, amd64, ]
			\|-
			\| <!--Version-->{{Version \|o \|4.0}}<ref name="PhoronixGNewSense4"/>
			\| <!--Code name-->''Ucclia''
			\| <!--Release date--> 2016-05-02
			\| <!--Supported until-->{{Version \|o \| 2018-05-31<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://trisquel.info/en/forum/release-gnewsense-4-beta-codenamed-ucclia\|title=Release of gNewSense 4 (beta) codenamed Ucclia \| Trisquel GNU/Linux - Run free!\|access-date=23 November 2017\|archive-date=1 December 2017\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031430/https://trisquel.info/en/forum/release-gnewsense-4-beta-codenamed-ucclia\|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
			\| <!--Based on-->Debian 7 "Wheezy"
			\| <!--Supported architectures--> i386, amd64, ]
			\|-
			\| colspan=6 \| {{Version \|l \|show=10100}}
			\|}
			In 2016, gNewSense announced that the next version of gNewSense would be 5.0.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-dev/2016-05/msg00000.html\|title= gNewSense 5\|website=lists.nongnu.org\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=21 September 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921143104/https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-dev/2016-05/msg00000.html\|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=gNewSense-5-Planning\|title=gNewSense 5 Hopes To Be A Speedier Release Of The FSF-Approved Linux OS - Phoronix\|website=www.phoronix.com\|access-date=11 June 2018\|archive-date=12 June 2018\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140929/https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=gNewSense-5-Planning\|url-status=live}}</ref>

			== Comparison with other distributions ==
	=== Versions ===
			Non-free software ] are not provided by the gNewSense project, and most non-free documentation and artwork have been removed. While it was based on Ubuntu, the "Universe" package repository was enabled by default. In order to avoid ] problems that stem from the modification of ], gNewSense 1.1 rebranded it as "BurningDog". BurningDog likewise does not offer to install non-free ]s<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/PressRelease20070122 \|title=gNewSense Official Website \| Main / PressRelease20070122 \|publisher=Gnewsense.org \|date=2007-01-22 \|access-date=2011-07-02 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222090331/http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/PressRelease20070122 \|archive-date=2012-02-22 \|url-status=dead }}</ref> for various web media, such as ]. gNewSense 2.0 abandoned BurningDog and adopted the ] web browser (later renamed simply "Web"), a component of ], as its default browser application, and came with recommendations and instructions to optionally compile and run ].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/MainRepo/Firefox\|title=gNewSense MainRepo (old)\|access-date=2014-08-24\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703040900/http://www.gnewsense.org/MainRepo/Firefox\|archive-date=2016-07-03\|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/Documentation/3/MiscellaneousGuides/CompileGnuIcecatSeventeen\|title=gNewSense 3.0 IceCat Compile Instructions\|access-date=2014-08-24\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123851/http://www.gnewsense.org/Documentation/3/MiscellaneousGuides/CompileGnuIcecatSeventeen\|archive-date=2015-04-02\|url-status=dead}}</ref> gNewSense 3.0 retains Web as the default browser, but also comes with a modified version of Debian's ] that does not offer to access proprietary add-ons.<ref name="gnewsense.org">{{cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/Documentation/3/DifferencesWithDebian\|title=gNewSense 3.0 Documentation, Differences with Debian\|access-date=2014-08-24\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224111911/http://www.gnewsense.org/Documentation/3/DifferencesWithDebian\|archive-date=2019-02-24\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

			] is another ] known for strict licensing requirements and adherence to ] principles. While both Debian and gNewSense rigorously exclude non-free software and ] from their official releases, Debian maintains and ] unofficial repositories of non-free software and ] binaries, and Debian free software sometimes ] upon or suggests the optional installation of ], under the theory that ]s' own informed discretion about the use of such software should be paramount, as expressed in Clause 5 of the ]<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.debian.org/social_contract.en.html\|title=Debian Social Contract\|website=www.debian.org\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=4 August 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804060728/https://www.debian.org/social_contract.en.html\|url-status=live}}</ref> (though Debian's democratic project management has seen this stance become a source of recurrent controversy<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.debian.org/vote/2004/vote_002.en.html\|title=General Resolution: Status of the non-free section\|website=www.debian.org\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=21 April 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421043849/https://www.debian.org/vote/2004/vote_002.en.html\|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.debian.org/vote/2006/vote_007.en.html\|title=General Resolution: Handling source-less firmware in the Linux kernel\|website=www.debian.org\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=21 April 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421043815/https://www.debian.org/vote/2006/vote_007.en.html\|url-status=live}}</ref>). gNewSense, by contrast, does not provide any ] which depend on or suggest the use of non-free software, firmware, extensions, or plugins, nor does the gNewSense Project provide convenience-access to proprietary software for any reason, seeing this as an abrogation of the commitment to the development of ]. Similar to Debian, gNewSense policies do not allow including documentation that are licensed under the ] with invariant sections.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/LicenceInformationUpdate\|title=LicenceInformationUpdate - gNewSense GNU/Linux\|publisher=Gnewsense.org\|access-date=2013-08-07\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924043423/http://www.gnewsense.org/LicenceInformationUpdate\|archive-date=2015-09-24\|url-status=dead}}</ref> This includes many manuals and documentation released by the ] themselves.
	Version 1.1, "deltad", was released on ] ] and is based on Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake". Version 2.0, "deltah", followed on ] ] and is based on Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron"; version 2.1 is a minor update which removes non-free software and expands hardware support.

			While gNewSense was initially ] from ] (itself originally a fork of ]) as a result of founding developer Paul O'Malley's prior work with Ubuntu, as of gNewSense 3.0 the distribution has tracked Debian as the base for its software distribution. In part this has been because the Debian Project does carefully disaggregate the free software in its official distribution from the proprietary software it provides courtesy access to.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/FAQ\|title=gNewSense FAQ\|access-date=2012-03-15\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508111625/http://www.gnewsense.org/FAQ\|archive-date=2015-05-08\|url-status=dead}}</ref> Indeed, many of the packages, including Debian-particular packages (such as Iceweasel and Icedove) ported to gNewSense are simply modified in such a way that they no longer provide such courtesy access to non-free software options.<ref name="gnewsense.org"/>
	===Creating personalized versions===
	Brian Brazil developed a tool called '' to make gNewSense which also can be used by anyone to make their own release of GNU/Linux.

	== ~~See also~~ ==		== Limitations ==
	{{~~portal\|Free~~ ~~software~~\|~~Free~~ Software ~~Portal Logo.svg~~}}		{{See also\|Software remastering}}

			Since gNewSense's repositories contain only free software, support for hardware which requires firmware and for which no free firmware exists (such as some ] cards) is not available.<ref name="Smith26Aug13">{{cite news\|url = http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130826#feature\|title = Freedom and gNewSense 3.0\|access-date = 31 August 2013\|last = Smith\|first = Jesse\|date = 26 August 2013\|work = ]\|archive-date = 21 September 2013\|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130921193228/http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130826#feature\|url-status = live}}</ref>
	* ]
	* ]

			By 1 May 2008, ] and application support had also been removed<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Deltah \|title=Main/Deltah – gNewSense GNU/Linux \|publisher=Gnewsense.org \|access-date=2011-07-02 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212070159/http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Deltah \|archive-date=2009-12-12 \|url-status=dead }}</ref> because of licensing issues<ref> {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927044147/http://bugs.gnewsense.org/Bugs/00129 \|date=2008-09-27 }} bugs.gnewsense.org</ref> with ]. After January 13, 2009, those issues had been resolved and 3D support became standard starting with the 2.2 release.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2009-01-xorg-glx \|title=3D graphics are 100% free software — Free Software Foundation — working together for free software \|publisher=Fsf.org \|access-date=2011-07-02 \|archive-date=21 January 2009 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121215546/http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2009-01-xorg-glx \|url-status=live }}</ref>
	== References ==

			== Reception ==
	{{refs\|2}}
			In reviewing gNewSense 3.0 in August 2013, Jesse Smith of ] noted that many of the applications provided, including ] 3, Debian's de-blobbed 2.6.32 Linux kernel (based on ] ''tools''<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://bzr.savannah.gnu.org/lh/gnewsense/packages-parkes/linux-2.6/view/head:/debian/README.gNewSense\|title=/gnewsense/packages-parkes/linux-2.6 : contents of debian/README.gNewSense at revision 16\|work=gnu.org\|access-date=31 January 2017\|archive-date=16 March 2021\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316003618/http://bzr.savannah.gnu.org/lh/gnewsense/packages-parkes/linux-2.6/view/head:/debian/README.gNewSense\|url-status=live}}</ref>), Iceweasel 3.5 and ] 2.30 were quite out of date. Smith concluded this review with the following words:<ref name="Smith26Aug13" />

			<blockquote>
			Generally speaking, I was happy with gNewSense 3.0. Being based on Debian, the distribution can be counted on to provide both stability and amazing performance. The distribution is lean, fast and uncluttered. The flip side to this is gNewSense's system installer and default package management tools are geared more toward experienced users and will probably provide a steep learning curve to novice Linux users. Not much is automated and there is a minimum of hand holding. The main feature of gNewSense, the lack of proprietary software, is also a double-edged blade. On the one hand, it means the entire operating system can be audited, modified and redistributed. This is great from the perspective of software freedom. The fact that the distribution can play most multimedia formats and handled Flash content fairly well is a testament of the power of free and open source software. The one problem I ran into with gNewSense's software policy was with regards to my wireless network card. Most distributions ship with the non-free Intel firmware, but gNewSense doesn't include it and this means the distribution isn't a good fit with my laptop. It is, on the other hand, a great match with my desktop system.
			</blockquote>

			], founder and former president of the ], said he used gNewSense on a Lemote Yeeloong laptop in January 2010<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/ \|title=An interview with Richard Stallman \|publisher=Richard.stallman.usesthis.com \|date=2010-01-23 \|access-date=2011-07-02 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175618/http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/ \|archive-date=2011-07-17 \|url-status=dead }}</ref> and he was still using it in April 2014.<ref>{{cite web \|author=Vito Gentile \|url=https://www.html.it/articoli/gnulinux-meeting-2014-richard-stallman-e-approdato-a-palermo/ \|title=GNU/Linux Meeting 2014: Richard Stallman approda a Palermo \|trans-title=GNU / Linux Meeting 2014: Richard Stallman has landed in Palermo \|language=it \|publisher=HTML.it \|access-date=2014-04-19 \|archive-date=5 October 2019 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005213355/https://www.html.it/articoli/gnulinux-meeting-2014-richard-stallman-e-approdato-a-palermo/ \|url-status=live }}</ref> Since then Stallman has switched to ].<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html\|title=How I do my Computing\|access-date=26 May 2015\|archive-date=10 April 2016\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410035339/https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html\|url-status=live}}</ref>

			Serdar Yegulalp reviewed gNewSense for InfoWorld.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/3067280/free-as-can-be-gnewsense-is-true-gnu-linux.html\|title=Free as can be: gNewSense is true GNU Linux\|first=Serdar\|last=Yegulalp\|date=May 9, 2016\|website=InfoWorld\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=31 May 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531074508/https://www.infoworld.com/article/3067280/free-as-can-be-gnewsense-is-true-gnu-linux.html\|url-status=live}}</ref> He is said: {{quote\|The base of gNewSense is the Debian distribution, which already excludes proprietary binary blobs and unfree software but provides access to them via repositories. But gNewSense goes further: It doesn't even include access to such software in its repositories. Its documentation also includes only material that's compatible with the GNU Free Documentation License.}}

			In the post on Network World of gNewSense 3.1 in February 2014, Bryan Lunduke reviewed this Linux distribution with following words:<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/2226377/gnewsense-3-1--the-fsf-approved-linux-distro-that-s-stuck-in-2010.html\|title=gNewSense 3.1: The FSF-approved Linux distro that's stuck in 2010\|first=Bryan\|last=Lunduke\|date=February 19, 2014\|website=Network World\|access-date=12 August 2019\|archive-date=12 August 2019\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812175545/https://www.networkworld.com/article/2226377/gnewsense-3-1--the-fsf-approved-linux-distro-that-s-stuck-in-2010.html\|url-status=live}}</ref> {{quote\|In fact, the stock installation of gNewSense{{snd}} thanks, in large part, to using older and lighter versions of popular software{{snd}} is incredibly fast and astoundingly un-taxing on your hardware. The whole system, when logged in with no additional software running, uses roughly 105MB of RAM. So this plucky little distro will perform well on even modest hardware.}}

			== See also ==
			{{Portal\|Free and open-source software}}
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]

			== References ==
			{{Reflist\|30em}}

	== External links ==		== External links ==
			{{commons category}}
	*
			* {{official\|http://www.gnewsense.org}}
			* {{DistroWatch\|gnewsense\|gNewSense}}

	{{Ubuntu-distro}}
	{{Linux distributions}}		{{Linux distributions}}

			{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnewsense}}
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Latest revision as of 01:18, 1 January 2025

Linux distribution Linux distribution

gNewSense

gNewSense 4.0
Developer	Current: Matt Lee former: Sam Geeraerts, K.Goetz, Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley
OS family	Linux (Unix-like)
Working state	discontinued
Initial release	November 2, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-11-02)
Latest release	4.0 / 2 May 2016; 8 years ago (2 May 2016)
Latest preview	4.0 Alpha 1 / 2 December 2014; 10 years ago (2014-12-02)
Repository	bzr.savannah.gnu.org/r/gnewsense/
Update method	long term support
Package manager	apt (standard), Synaptic (Gtk+ frontend), dpkg (low-level system)
Platforms	amd64, i386, Loongson
Kernel type	Monolithic (Linux)
Userland	GNU
Default user interface	GNOME
License	FSDG
Official website	www.gnewsense.org

gNewSense was a Linux distribution, active from 2006 to 2016. It was based on Debian, and developed with sponsorship from the Free Software Foundation. Its goal was user-friendliness, but with all proprietary (e.g. binary blobs) and non-free software removed. The Free Software Foundation considered gNewSense to be composed entirely of free software.

gNewSense took a relatively strict stance against proprietary software. For example, any documentation that gave instructions on installing proprietary software was excluded.

gNewSense's last release was made in 2016 and it has not had a supported version since 2018. DistroWatch classifies gNewSense as "discontinued".

History

The project was launched by Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley in 2006. gNewSense was originally based on Ubuntu. With the 1.0 release, the Free Software Foundation provided assistance to gNewSense.

With no releases in two years, on 8 August 2011, DistroWatch classified gNewSense as "dormant". By September 2012 DistroWatch had changed the status to "active" again, and on 6 August 2013, the first version directly based on Debian, gNewSense 3 "Parkes", was released.

There have been several indications that it may be restarted, including a website announcement in 2019, but the project has remained inactive, with no releases since 2016. DistroWatch returned it to "dormant" status again in 2019 and "discontinued" by 2022.

As of 13 April 2021, the home page of the project's website displayed a blank page with a meme labelling the Free Software Foundation a cult. After a short time, the website then redirected to the home page of the PureOS website.

However, as of June 2021, it now redirects to the FSF's list of Free/Libre distros.

Technical aspects

By default gNewSense uses GNOME. The graphical user interface can be customized with the user's choice of X display manager, window managers, and other desktop environments available to install through its hosted repositories.

The Ubiquity installer allows installing to the hard disk from within the Live CD environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to installation.

Besides standard system tools and other small applications, gNewSense comes installed with the following software: the LibreOffice productivity suite, GNOME Web, the Empathy instant messenger, and the GIMP for editing photos and other raster graphics. Common software development tools including the GCC are installed by default.

Installation

The Live CD can be used to run the operating system and to install onto disk. CD images are available for download.

Versions

gNewSense has made four major releases:

Version	Code name	Release date	Supported until	Based on	Supported architectures
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0	DeltaD	2006-11-02	Old version, no longer maintained: 2008-05-01	Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake"	—
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0	DeltaH	2008-04-30	Old version, no longer maintained: 2014-01-03	Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron"	—
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.0	Parkes	2013-08-06	Old version, no longer maintained: 2015-12-31	Debian 6.0 "Squeeze"	i386, amd64, Lemote Yeeloong
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0	Ucclia	2016-05-02	Old version, no longer maintained: 2018-05-31	Debian 7 "Wheezy"	i386, amd64, Lemote Yeeloong
Legend:Old versionOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture release

In 2016, gNewSense announced that the next version of gNewSense would be 5.0.

Comparison with other distributions

Non-free software repositories are not provided by the gNewSense project, and most non-free documentation and artwork have been removed. While it was based on Ubuntu, the "Universe" package repository was enabled by default. In order to avoid trademark problems that stem from the modification of Mozilla Firefox, gNewSense 1.1 rebranded it as "BurningDog". BurningDog likewise does not offer to install non-free plugins for various web media, such as Adobe Flash. gNewSense 2.0 abandoned BurningDog and adopted the Epiphany web browser (later renamed simply "Web"), a component of GNOME, as its default browser application, and came with recommendations and instructions to optionally compile and run GNU IceCat. gNewSense 3.0 retains Web as the default browser, but also comes with a modified version of Debian's Iceweasel that does not offer to access proprietary add-ons.

Debian is another Linux distribution known for strict licensing requirements and adherence to free software principles. While both Debian and gNewSense rigorously exclude non-free software and binary blobs from their official releases, Debian maintains and hosts unofficial repositories of non-free software and firmware binaries, and Debian free software sometimes depends upon or suggests the optional installation of proprietary software, under the theory that users' own informed discretion about the use of such software should be paramount, as expressed in Clause 5 of the Debian Social Contract (though Debian's democratic project management has seen this stance become a source of recurrent controversy). gNewSense, by contrast, does not provide any packages which depend on or suggest the use of non-free software, firmware, extensions, or plugins, nor does the gNewSense Project provide convenience-access to proprietary software for any reason, seeing this as an abrogation of the commitment to the development of free software solutions. Similar to Debian, gNewSense policies do not allow including documentation that are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License with invariant sections. This includes many manuals and documentation released by the GNU Project themselves.

While gNewSense was initially forked from Ubuntu (itself originally a fork of Debian) as a result of founding developer Paul O'Malley's prior work with Ubuntu, as of gNewSense 3.0 the distribution has tracked Debian as the base for its software distribution. In part this has been because the Debian Project does carefully disaggregate the free software in its official distribution from the proprietary software it provides courtesy access to. Indeed, many of the packages, including Debian-particular packages (such as Iceweasel and Icedove) ported to gNewSense are simply modified in such a way that they no longer provide such courtesy access to non-free software options.

Limitations

Reception

In reviewing gNewSense 3.0 in August 2013, Jesse Smith of DistroWatch noted that many of the applications provided, including OpenOffice.org 3, Debian's de-blobbed 2.6.32 Linux kernel (based on Linux-libre tools), Iceweasel 3.5 and GNOME 2.30 were quite out of date. Smith concluded this review with the following words:

Generally speaking, I was happy with gNewSense 3.0. Being based on Debian, the distribution can be counted on to provide both stability and amazing performance. The distribution is lean, fast and uncluttered. The flip side to this is gNewSense's system installer and default package management tools are geared more toward experienced users and will probably provide a steep learning curve to novice Linux users. Not much is automated and there is a minimum of hand holding. The main feature of gNewSense, the lack of proprietary software, is also a double-edged blade. On the one hand, it means the entire operating system can be audited, modified and redistributed. This is great from the perspective of software freedom. The fact that the distribution can play most multimedia formats and handled Flash content fairly well is a testament of the power of free and open source software. The one problem I ran into with gNewSense's software policy was with regards to my wireless network card. Most distributions ship with the non-free Intel firmware, but gNewSense doesn't include it and this means the distribution isn't a good fit with my laptop. It is, on the other hand, a great match with my desktop system.

Richard Stallman, founder and former president of the Free Software Foundation, said he used gNewSense on a Lemote Yeeloong laptop in January 2010 and he was still using it in April 2014. Since then Stallman has switched to Trisquel.

Serdar Yegulalp reviewed gNewSense for InfoWorld. He is said:

The base of gNewSense is the Debian distribution, which already excludes proprietary binary blobs and unfree software but provides access to them via repositories. But gNewSense goes further: It doesn't even include access to such software in its repositories. Its documentation also includes only material that's compatible with the GNU Free Documentation License.

In the post on Network World of gNewSense 3.1 in February 2014, Bryan Lunduke reviewed this Linux distribution with following words:

In fact, the stock installation of gNewSense – thanks, in large part, to using older and lighter versions of popular software – is incredibly fast and astoundingly un-taxing on your hardware. The whole system, when logged in with no additional software running, uses roughly 105MB of RAM. So this plucky little distro will perform well on even modest hardware.

References

^ Lee, Matt. "Next Steps for gNewSense". www.gnewsense.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019.
^ "DistroWatch.com: gNewSense". Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
"[gNewSense-users] gNewSense 4.0 released". Lists.nongnu.org. 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
^ "Ucclia alpha 1". gNewSense-dev mailing list. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
"List of Free GNU/Linux Distributions - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation". Gnu.org. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
Lee, Matt (2019). "gNewSense". www.gnewsense.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019. Hello, I'm Matt Lee, I've recently taken over maintaining gNewSense from Sam I'm Matt Lee: former FSF campaigns manager, I have a vision for desktop GNU/Linux that is unfulfilled.
"Community guidelines – gNewSense GNU/Linux". Wiki.gnewsense.org. 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
"gNewSense 1.0 released – Free Software Foundation". Fsf.org. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
Goetz, K. (12 October 2011). "News". gNewSense. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
^ "FAQ – gNewSense GNU/Linux". gNewSense. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
^ Sneddon, Joey (8 August 2013). "gNewSense 3 Released, Is No Longer Based on Ubuntu". OMG Ubuntu. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
"gNewSense". gNewSense. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
"gNewSense". gnewsense.org. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
Introduction to the Desktop Environment Archived 2014-07-27 at the Wayback Machine gnewsense.org
Using the Live CD Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine gnewsense.org
^ Larabel, Michael (6 May 2016). "FSF-Approved gNewSense 4 GNU/Linux Distribution Released - Phoronix". Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
Using gNewSense Archived 2014-07-27 at the Wayback Machine gnewsense.org
"Download - gNewSense GNU/Linux". Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
Freedom and gNewSense 3.0 Archived 12 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, DistroWatch Weekly
"Re: [Gnewsense-dev] Likely EoL date for gNewSense 3.1". lists.nongnu.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
"Release of gNewSense 4 (beta) codenamed Ucclia | Trisquel GNU/Linux - Run free!". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
"[Gnewsense-dev] gNewSense 5". lists.nongnu.org. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
"gNewSense 5 Hopes To Be A Speedier Release Of The FSF-Approved Linux OS - Phoronix". www.phoronix.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
"gNewSense Official Website | Main / PressRelease20070122". Gnewsense.org. 22 January 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
"gNewSense MainRepo (old)". Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
"gNewSense 3.0 IceCat Compile Instructions". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
^ "gNewSense 3.0 Documentation, Differences with Debian". Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
"Debian Social Contract". www.debian.org. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
"General Resolution: Status of the non-free section". www.debian.org. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
"General Resolution: Handling source-less firmware in the Linux kernel". www.debian.org. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
"LicenceInformationUpdate - gNewSense GNU/Linux". Gnewsense.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
"gNewSense FAQ". Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
^ Smith, Jesse (26 August 2013). "Freedom and gNewSense 3.0". DistroWatch. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
"Main/Deltah – gNewSense GNU/Linux". Gnewsense.org. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
xserver-xorg: wordy SGI license may not be free Archived 2008-09-27 at the Wayback Machine bugs.gnewsense.org
"3D graphics are 100% free software — Free Software Foundation — working together for free software". Fsf.org. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
"/gnewsense/packages-parkes/linux-2.6 : contents of debian/README.gNewSense at revision 16". gnu.org. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
"An interview with Richard Stallman". Richard.stallman.usesthis.com. 23 January 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
Vito Gentile. "GNU/Linux Meeting 2014: Richard Stallman approda a Palermo" [GNU / Linux Meeting 2014: Richard Stallman has landed in Palermo] (in Italian). HTML.it. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
"How I do my Computing". Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
Yegulalp, Serdar (9 May 2016). "Free as can be: gNewSense is true GNU Linux". InfoWorld. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
Lunduke, Bryan (19 February 2014). "gNewSense 3.1: The FSF-approved Linux distro that's stuck in 2010". Network World. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

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