Restricted modules in Ubuntu

[Liam Proven]

2009/1/14 Matthew East <mdke at ubuntu.com>:
> On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 3:18 PM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
>> However, you do not address my other question, which is this: what is
>> the distinction between including software on the CD and including it
>> in the repositories?
>
> I think there are two distinctions. Actually I think they've been
> adequately addressed already, but I'll repeat them again.
>
> The first is that Ubuntu chooses to install only free software by
> default (subject to the hardware drivers exception) because Ubuntu as
> a project believes that promoting free software is more important than
> other competing considerations (it's this choice that I think you
> disagree with, in the end). Some of those competing considerations are
> also important (like providing users with the functionality that they
> have come to expect from their system), and that leads to non-free
> software being made available easily to users through the restricted
> and multiverse components.

I /have/ got that now!

You are right, though, that I don't agree with it. It seems
counter-productive in light of Bug #0 and so on, but that is just my 2
penn'orth.

> Secondly, there is the fact that in order to be able to use some of
> these packages, the user needs to agree to licence provisions, or
> consider the legal consequences of using certain patented software,
> which are easier to bring to the user's attention at the individual
> installation stage, rather than when the user downloads Ubuntu.
> Requiring the user to make a conscious choice to install a particular
> program in the knowledge that the program carries certain conditions
> that are different to Ubuntu's general licence policies, is a healthy
> policy.

As far as I am aware, there are no messages, warnings or anything of
that kind when someone chooses to install the *-restricted-extras
metapackages. I don't recall any, at any rate.

> As for Java specifically, I'm not familiar with the technical details
> of this, so I'd recommend you discuss it with Ubuntu's java team or
> have a look in the bug tracker.

Fair enough.

AIUI, in brief, Sun has made the JVM and so on GPL now, but it retains
control over some of the Java language libraries, which is why
all-Free projects now use the Sun JVM in conjunction with libraries
derived from the GNU Classpath project.

But there is an all-GPL complete JVM available, I believe.

-- 
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