Is the situation really that different from how it used to be? At least for me personally, if I compare to around 2008 or so when I had Debian installed as the primary OS on a desktop PC and as a toy on my Mac laptop:
> Modern laptops normally don't come with wired ethernet now.
Both then and now, on my laptop, I use Ethernet occasionally but rarely, only when I specifically need its speed or reliability advantages. The rest of the time I use Wi-Fi, which did and does require non-free firmware. Ethernet moved from a built-in port to a dongle, but my actual usage patterns have barely changed.
That said, there used to be some Wi-Fi chips that didn't require non-free firmware (just not the ones I had), whereas now there are none.
For desktops, on the other hand, it was and is worth hooking up Ethernet, making the point largely moot. (I think I used Wi-Fi on my desktop at the time, but I wished I didn't have to. Now I don't.)
> There won't be any usable graphics on the laptop's screen.
Even at the time, I saw hardware-accelerated graphics as essential, both for windowing (Compiz) and for gaming. So I used the 'nvidia' non-free driver on the PC… just as I do now. (I don't remember what the Mac had.)
Incidentally, for those who don't prioritize graphics performance over freedom, free drivers are better than they used to be. Unfortunately, they require non-free firmware – and I know this post is about firmware. But still… that seems like a win of some sort.
> Modern laptops normally don't come with wired ethernet now.
Both then and now, on my laptop, I use Ethernet occasionally but rarely, only when I specifically need its speed or reliability advantages. The rest of the time I use Wi-Fi, which did and does require non-free firmware. Ethernet moved from a built-in port to a dongle, but my actual usage patterns have barely changed.
That said, there used to be some Wi-Fi chips that didn't require non-free firmware (just not the ones I had), whereas now there are none.
For desktops, on the other hand, it was and is worth hooking up Ethernet, making the point largely moot. (I think I used Wi-Fi on my desktop at the time, but I wished I didn't have to. Now I don't.)
> There won't be any usable graphics on the laptop's screen.
Even at the time, I saw hardware-accelerated graphics as essential, both for windowing (Compiz) and for gaming. So I used the 'nvidia' non-free driver on the PC… just as I do now. (I don't remember what the Mac had.)
Incidentally, for those who don't prioritize graphics performance over freedom, free drivers are better than they used to be. Unfortunately, they require non-free firmware – and I know this post is about firmware. But still… that seems like a win of some sort.