On 9 June 2010 17:57, Danny Piccirillo <danny.picciri...@ubuntu.com> wrote: > Of course it is! At least according to our > philosophy: http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/our-philosophy > > Still, many people don't think that Ubuntu is truly committed to free > software in practice. These people can and should be our allies. Their > concerns are valid, and they are not difficult to appease. I'd like to > present a short list of simple ways that Ubuntu could show it's commitment: > 1. Offer ways to easily purge all non-free software from one's system.
Those who know why medibuntu, restricted & multiverse exists also know how to remove those and purge those packages. I personally have only one firmware blob for my webcam support, non-free codecs, flash & skype. > * This would require supporting the linux libre kernel (it doesn't have to > be by default, but the option should be available) > 2. Make a point of saying why and how non-free software was bad, but also > why the option is given to install it Define "bad" ?! It's a very subjective matter with many personal views on the subject. I for example believe that Microsoft Office suite is a high quality software designed with very high standards and great user experience. License terms does not make software better or worse, it just limits the amount of people who will agree to use it and limits what is and isn't allowed to do when you are using it. > * This would need to be shown every time Ubuntu recommends proprietary > software like restricted drivers > That's it! Personally I do not want my desktop to nag and change my personal views and making me feel bad for making a particular choice of the installed software. Ubuntu is about freedom, and that includes freedom of choice. We do have predefined-seeds targeting different users with what we believe is best experience for them, but in no way we will ever limit user's freedom of choice or try to manipulate it. From defining apt components, adding/removing ppa's, pinning and blacklisting packages users have the ultimate control of what they feel comfortable with running on their machines. There are many software packages out there, and there are many alternative packages with similar functionality but written in different languages / with different license and we are offering the most we can collectively possibly maintain / support. Some thing gpl is evil, some thing bsd is evil, i don't think EULA's and apple public license are evil. I respect all developers' choices and as a user I make my own whether I want to use particular package or not. -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss