Regaining perspective while on Trisquel 12 path

Regaining perspective while on Trisquel 12 path

by | Feb 21, 2025 | Activism, Libre Software

We are back at that time of year when some eyebrows are raised regarding the progress of the next version of Trisquel, in this case v12.0, codename Ence.

For some time now I have been in charge of maintaining and developing the distro’s packages, including the development of the next release. Trisquel 12 will be, like every release, the sum of many design improvements and corrections in the approach and implementation of the changes. As I always say in every release, this will be the best release so far™ and it always is in one way or another.

However, with each version, we must “rediscover the wheel” regarding how the changes in the latest LTS affect the next version. This is also considering that Ubuntu is increasingly migrating towards the use of snap packages, which adds more “flavor” to maintenance and development work.

From the increasingly predominant use of Wayland in desktop environments, to the migration to Pipewire from Pulseaudio, Noble 24.04 as a base brings important changes in the selection of core packages, unfortunately we still have a deficit in the development team involved in the distribution, and despite this we continue to grow in the support of the architectures.

Ecne should keep the same architectures as Aramo,

  • amd64
  • armhf
  • arm64
  • ppc64el

and as planned it should be added

  • riscv64

however, the lack of hardware for compilation could postpone official RISC-V support or, in the worst case, suspend it until further notice. On the other hand, the good news is that the availability of nodes for ARM has increased to meet the growing demand.

Support for architectures other than amd64 is barely explored by a few users who have access to high-end or development servers capable of using the debian-installer which we will continue to maintain for Ecne.

Nonetheless, it’s nice to see more users rolling up their sleeves and “getting their hands dirty” while exploring arm64 on devices, documenting their process and applying constant updates, this process of discovery and specialization is what allows communities to thrive, fostering interactions among people who share the same goal, thank you for your participation.

Finally, and perhaps a bit off-topic, I wanted to share that many things have happened in a short period of time. From having the opportunity to talk in person with the founder of Trisquel, Rubén Rodríguez, and meeting colleagues who participate with great dedication in other projects like Internet in a Box—a project I wish to gradually get involved with—to the passing of a family friend, someone even younger than me, which reminds me of the fragility of the human condition and the lack of guarantees for our presence tomorrow. May he rest in peace.

There is a lot to process in such a short time, but one thing is clear to me and that is that we have to work with what we have and what we can with our best attitude, while making sense of our decisions and objectives so that when we look back we are not left owing anything to ourselves.

Sometimes life is too short to hold on to regrets, anger, or sorrow.

It is quite unusual to end an entry related to Free Software with this kind of message. However, I believe it is important to remember that we cannot completely separate the human factor—the events in people’s lives—behind the software.

I celebrate being here, I celebrate the opportunity to take part in all the projects I work on every day, and I cherish sharing this experience with family, friends, communities, and colleagues.

Peace!