The h-node project aims at the construction of a hardware database in order to identify what devices work with a fully free operating system. The h-node.org website is structured like a wiki in which all the users can modify or insert new contents. The h-node project is developed in collaboration and as an activity of the FSF.
In order to add a device to the h-node database, you must verify that it works using only free software. For this purpose, you must be running either:
1) A GNU/Linux distribution that is on the FSF's list of endorsed distributions
2) Debian GNU/Linux, with only the main archive area enabled. The "contrib" and "non-free" areas must not be enabled when testing hardware. Double-check this by running apt-cache policy. The only package archive area mentioned in the output should be main.
h-node lists only hardware that works with free drivers and without non-free firmware. Other GNU/Linux distributions (or Debian with contrib, non-free, or some 3rd-party archives enabled) include non-free firmware files, so they cannot be used for testing.
Here is a list of other archives collecting information about hardware working with free software:
| 3G-card | 28 |
| acquisition-card | 31 |
| bluetooth | 43 |
| ethernet-card | 133 |
| fingerprint-reader | 10 |
| host-controller | 123 |
| modem | 7 |
| notebook | 571 |
| printer | 89 |
| RAID-adapter | 14 |
| scanner | 21 |
| sd-card-reader | 42 |
| soundcard | 100 |
| videocard | 257 |
| webcam | 101 |
| wifi | 173 |