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 cards | 34 |
| Acquisition cards | 34 |
| Bluetooth | 58 |
| Ethernet cards | 173 |
| Fingerprint readers | 11 |
| Host Controllers | 171 |
| Modems | 18 |
| Notebooks | 799 |
| Printers | 127 |
| RAID adapters | 20 |
| Scanners | 24 |
| SD card readers | 57 |
| Sound cards | 145 |
| Video cards | 346 |
| Webcams | 133 |
| Wifi cards | 234 |
| TOTAL | 2384 |