On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:25:50 +0100, <lukefro...@hushmail.com> wrote:

For me to stay with Ubuntu, the packages I use, in clean versions,
need to stay in repo and never depend on packages I am not willing to install. Since I regard my installed OS as a fork, it's what's in repo and what they depend on that counts,
not the default installation which now has little bearing on my own.

I draw the line at any attempt to restrict my power over my own machine, or connects to the Internet without my explicit authorization. For my uses, even automated bug reporting in things like Firefox is deemed unsafe and disabled. I
would switch to rekonq if not for the "browser fingerprintng" menace.

<snip>

Let me first state that while I do develop Ubuntu Studio, these are my personal thoughts on the issue, and I'm not speaking on behalf of the entire Ubuntu Studio team.

I think what you are saying is an important issue to deal with, absolutely.
Can't say I know much about the drm stuff. But, if it is true that it would be forced on the user somehow, I would agree that would be a bad thing. If it only happens on Unity, that would put a shadow over Unity - make it stand out as a non-community friendly project, sort of like many non-free applications that you can install on your desktop today. I don't use Unity, so I haven't been keeping up with the problems around it (all though, I of course think it's important, as that also touches the community in some ways).

AFAIK, nothing of the kind is happening, but if I'm wrong, do please correct me. Adding support for something is not the same as forcing you to use it.

I'm not taking Canonicals side here. I'm not interested in taking a side at all. I just want to be clear about what is what, and lately, I think many people have been overreacting over sudden changes, or perhaps latently reacting to things that already were issues before.

It's absolutely important to bring these issues up. And if there are problems around Ubuntu, those should be discussed. But, let's first make sure there is a problem.

From what I saw on the article at Phoronix, there's talk about adding support for DRM in gstreamer. I'd assume that could result in some kind of installable module.

If ones' aim is to use a distro that is absolutely free, and has the strictest policies on issues around free software, I don't feel like Ubuntu is the best distro to use in that case.

Since Ubuntu Studio (and other community flavors) is not run by Canonical, we have the freedom to customize our OS anyway we (the Ubuntu Studio community) want - as long as we're using free software. We're not on the same boat as Ubuntu, which needs to be focused towards something quite different. That said, we want to be the biggest multimedia focused linux distro, and we want to be easy to use for users who migrate from proprietary OSs. Seasoned Linux users might choose other platforms, or they might not. It doesn't really matter. We're not leading the crusade on free software for multimedia enthusiasts in the strictest sense, but perhaps we are in a much more broader sense.

I for one don't want to make compromises for no reason, and AFAIK, the biggest non-free portion of a Ubuntu Studio install is a few kernel blobs. I guess one alternative would be to add a free kernel to the repo, and have to installation medias. One that is fully free, and the other that has non-free wifi drivers. Sounds quite reasonable to me.

I'm not seeing anything changing the nature of how free Ubuntu Studio is free.

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