[OffList] Restricted modules in Ubuntu

[Liam Proven]

2009/1/14 Brian Fahrlander <wheeldweller at gmail.com>:
> Liam Proven wrote:
>>
>> Ubuntu needs those codecs, plugins and modules.
>>
>> Can we not have an uncrippled version of Ubuntu for non-USA-citizens
>> to download and use, without hassle overcoming US restrictions?
>>
>
>   Well, there *is* a person or two with computers, in America.  :>

Millions of 'em! But the US population is just 4% of the world.

>   The same will (probably soon) be the case in Indian and China- things are
> getting better as they drop the "must kill the world" and chose "must own
> the world" mentalities that are a lot easier to deal with. (Remember Russia
> in the Cold War? "Decadent Americans who will die out..." Who was miserable
> then?)

I don't follow what you mean here, or its relevance...?

>  Anyway, no: the dependencies must be something you're doing; I have several
> machines here, and have since Dapper, and I can probably count on one hand
> the number of times things were outta whak. Are you manually updating your
> sources.list file, perhaps? Typos happen.

No, it's not. I am pointing out a widespread and widely-documented
problem with removing Evolution. Probably far fewer people manually
install the UNR launcher on Xubuntu but it does happen:

https://answers.launchpad.net/netbook-remix/+question/50618

>  America's not so bad; the Grand Tetons will take your breath away. New York
> City will yank it out of you and make you cry. Nothing personal- it's just
> it's way.

I've visited the USA several times. NYC was impressive but cold and
doesn't have nearly enough greenery for my taste. Boston is much more
pleasant but doesn't have nearly as much nightlife. Denver has far
better scenery than either and probably even less nightlife!

I hope to ride across it someday, either by bicycle or motorcycle. As
a staunch atheist, though, I don't think I could take the highly
religious culture permanently, any more than I could in Saudi Arabia
or other fundamentalist nations.

>  My dad was present in a little scuffle we shared, long ago...lost in the
> Black Forest, cut off from his unit. He very nearly walked into a machinegun
> nest, but for devine intervention. He saw a lot of destruction while he was
> there- lotta death, lotta loss.  Many tears were the harvest of the
> Darwinians trying to rule the world.

The Darwinians? [Laughter] Darwin was one of the greatest scientists
who ever lived and evolution is one of science's greatest discoveries.
I have to break the news to you that only a tiny minority of
fundamentalists in the US and the Middle East are still living in the
past. Everyone else, from the major churches in Rome and Canterbury
and everywhere, have accepted it and moved on long ago. Ask the Pope.
:¬)

>  One day later, when I was a kid, we were driving up to Maine. He said, "See
> that big, grey-brown dome over there? That's New York City. AND WE'RE NOT
> GOING."
>
>  Dad wasn't afraid of much, but I've stayed away, just the same. Chicago's
> much more inviting, and friendly- that's the midwestern way.

I found NYC pretty friendly, actually, especially when I visited
shortly after 9/11, when storekeepers were very happy to see visitors.

-- 
Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
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