Kubuntu annoyances (check list)

[Gary W. Swearingen]

Edulix <edulix at gmail.com> writes:

> My take is that the same should happen in (K)ubuntu when trying to play a file 
> in a propietary format. Add to the wizzard all the warnings and alerts 
> telling the user that the software being installed is NOT free/open/libre, 
> but in the end give the user the choice to install it easily, because freddom 
> through obscurity is not freedom.

Yeah, my main problem with the current situation is that I'm unsure
what's legal and what's not, except the Real and Flash players from
their owners.  I'd really like to see an article or something
explaining the situation really well.  Are 3rd-party Real players
legit, or are they based on illegal (DCMA?) reverse engineering?  I'm
fairly sure decoders for normal DVDs are illegal in the USA, but how
many DVDs need decoding?  All of them?  Etc.

I get the impression from
http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/software.html that all MP3 players
must be fee-licensed, while I've seen few appropriately-scary warnings
about downloading FOSS MP3 players which I doubt have been properly
licensed.  I've not intentionally gotten "mplayer" for this reason,
but I worry that it (or something like it) has been buried in some
other download, like an OS ISO.

I know there's some risk in using any software because you can't know
who owns and cares about what IP (esp. patents) that might apply.
Fortunately, the risk seems sufficiently small to accept in most
cases, at least for most users.