there was a message forwarded recently to the parabola mailing list[1] from a user who has asked RMS if the GPLv3 telegram desktop client that has as its only possible use to interact with proprietary servers constituted a freedom concern - RMS stated very clearly that the client was acceptable because it is freely licensed, and the software running on remote network services is fully exempt from the FSDG - so there may be "trademark" issues, and there may be "privacy" or other "ethical" concerns, but the official position is that proprietary network services are not a "freedom" issue
i can only speak with direct experience of parabola; but i can say that parabola removes anything that so much as smells of proprietary, trade-marked, or encourages the use of proprietary network services - that is not strictly required by the FSDG though, it is done more for those "philosophical" reasons so just to use the correct words here: in order for this to a "freedom" concern, you first have to state explicitly in which way do you suppose those buttons remove user's freedom - i dont think that because those businesses "working againts freedom philosophy" is quite enough - RMS contends that merely using a proprietary network service does not impede the user's freedom; so you would need to have something more concrete in mind for us to discuss here as isaacdavid points out there is the freedom concern that can be raised if the distro is directing users directly into running non-free javascripts - i asked RMS a follow-up question regarding that subtlety; but he did not answer that conclusively [1]: https://lists.parabola.nu/pipermail/assist/2018-July/001141.html
pgpDCtYj6liI3.pgp
Description: PGP signature
