Restricted modules in Ubuntu

[Liam Proven]

2009/1/14 Ray Parrish <crp at cmc.net>:
> Matthew East wrote:
>> On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 1:14 AM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> And speaking of components and restricted ones, it is a real pain in
>>> the neck to have to manually add in ubuntu-restricted-extras on *every
>>> single Ubuntu box I install*. They are not optional if you want to use
>>> the Web; Flash, Java and so on are pretty much mandatory. So, come to
>>> that, are the w32codecs from the Medibuntu repository.
>>>
>>> I am not American; I am not in America; I never plan to live in
>>> America. Nice place for a holiday, wouldn't want to live there. Yet as
>>> far as I know, I have to jump through hoops installing this stuff
>>> because they can't be included by /United States/ laws. These do not
>>> apply to me.
>>>
>>
>> US law has nothing to do with this. As far as I can see, many of the
>> packages in ubuntu-restricted-extras are perfectly fine to use in the
>> US. Obvious examples from your original post are flash and java.
>>
>> These packages are not installed by default because they are not free
>> software. Excluding non-free software by default is a choice that
>> Ubuntu has made of its own accord, not because of legal restrictions.
>>
>> I gather from what you've said in your post that you may disagree with
>> that choice, and if so, you probably want to run a different operating
>> system. But blaming it on US law is misplaced.
>>
>>
> So... if flash and java aren't free, when do I have to pay for them? I'm
> using both on my Ubuntu install, and so far no one has asked me for any
> money. 8-)
>
> Later, Ray Parrish
>
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Please don't repeat the ancient error of conflating "free = at no
cost" and "free = at liberty". This is a pernicious mistake, caused by
an atypical paucity of English vocabulary, and it's caused a great
deal of trouble over the years. It's not remotely funny.

The underlying point, that Ubuntu /does/ distribute non-Free code,
you've just got to ask for it in the right way, is a valid one, but
muddling /gratuit/ with /libre/ *does not help*.

By the way, also, you addressed your comment to the wrong list: this
belongs in Sounder, not in ubuntu-users, which is for tech support.

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