VRMS(1)

📦 version 1.27, in ubuntu jammy

🌸 NAME 🌸

okay so bestie, meet vrms 💖 — she lives in your General Commands Manual (section 1, iykyk), and her whole job is: report of installed non-free software. that's it. that's the gig. no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

vrms [OPTION] ...

literally just run her, optionally with some options, and she'll tell you the tea 🫖

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so here's the lore, bestie 📖 — this program started as an attempt to create a "virtual Richard M. Stallman" for Debian GNU/Linux. that's literally why she's named that. iconic origin story, no notes 💀

she analyzes the currently-installed package list on a Debian GNU/Linux system, and reports the non-free and contrib packages that are currently installed to stdout. and like… in some cases, such as regarding documentation licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License with invariant sections, the opinions of Richard M. Stallman and the Debian project have diverged since this program was originally written 🙈 in those cases, this program follows the definition of freedom embodied in the Debian Free Software Guidelines. periodt.

the packages in the non-free tree have restrictions on their use and/or distribution which cause them to fail to meet the terms of the Debian Free Software Guidelines included as part of the Debian Social Contract. however — and this is the messy part — some are sufficiently useful that their presence is often tolerated by Debian users despite their licensing. yeah. we know. 😭

the packages in the contrib tree are themselves free software but have some dependency on non-free software for their use that make them worthy of reporting, so that their use can also be consciously considered. awareness is the vibe 🦋

Richard is the most vocal among us on the issue of software morality, and we agree with Richard that Debian users should have an easy way to know when they are running non-free software on their systems. this program is our attempt to fill that need. slay 🎀

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

quick heads up before we dive in: all options can be prefixed with -- (eg: --noexplain) to turn them off. so you can flip any of these babies the other way if you wanna. main character energy ✨

  • -q, --quiet — do absolutely nothing if there are no non-free packages installed. like, silent. ghosting you on purpose 💀
  • -e, --explain — gives a brief explanation of why each package is non-free, if available. this is the default, bestie, she's already doing this 💖
  • -s, --sparse — just outputs a list of non-free packages. no commentary, no yapping, just the names 💅
  • --reason-dir=DIR — use DIR as the reason directory, instead of /usr/share/vrms/reasons/. pick your own source of truth 👑
  • -h, --help — display help. she's helpful like that 🫶
  • -d, --debug — generate debugging information. for when you need the ✨receipts✨

🍓 FILES 🍓

  • /usr/share/vrms/reasons — the default source of explanations for why packages are non-free. this is where the drama lives, fr fr

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

this program was written by Bdale Garbee and Bill Geddes for the Debian GNU/Linux system, in response to an open discussion with Richard Stallman about the issues surrounding the availability/desirability of the 'non-free' package tree in Debian. we love a collaborative moment 💜

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🧚 this one's A Cute Little Hack — that's the version/source vibe — and she's VRMS(1), so you know exactly where to find her. go check your packages, stay free, mwah 💋💖

📦 where this page comes from