Idea for expanded support of some non-free software

[Jeff Waugh]

<quote who="Philippe Landau">

> Jeff Waugh wrote:
> > > of course you could install it on your development computers, test it,
> > > make it work well, provide scripts guiding through the legal download
> > > from their original sources, and facilitate optional integration in
> > > the ubuntu desktop.
> > 
> > Remember - you could also do this. :-) 
> 
> you are a team of - how many ? - professionals, say it would be too much
> work, and an amateur could do it ?

Absolutely. The small team of Ubuntu developers within Canonical have a very
clear brief: To provide a totally awesome Free Software operating system. So
supporting proprietary software is outside that brief, and in some cases,
not possible at all (ie. we can't fix problems with it, in some cases we
can't distribute it, etc).

Remember that a huge proportion of FOSS development is done by "amateurs"!

> >Spending time supporting proprietary software would detract from our
> >ability to provide a great supportable and *Free* OS for everyone, which
> >is our main objective.
> 
> am i mistaken in thinking other linux distros already are great
> supportable and free operating systems ?  what exactly does canonical aim
> for that set it apart ?

I don't think this is a relevant point - you seem to be suggesting that we
should set Ubuntu apart by including proprietary software. That is not in
line with our philosophy.

> >Again, where we can legally include these kinds of things in multiverse, we
> >will. But we don't commit a huge amount of time to unsupported software,
> >especially if it's not Free.
> others like Joe Crawford have offered their help
> with integrating multimedia into ubuntu,
> but most of the time inquiries like these were
> ridiculed by community guardians
> and downplayed and ignored by canonical leaders.

This is a very unfair comment. There are many suggestions we simply cannot
fulfill, but we don't ignore or ridicule them. That would not be in line
with the code of conduct we strive to work by.

I understand the frustration caused by not having software available to
interoperate with proprietary formats and protocols, but please remember
that these situations are not caused by us, and in many cases we cannot
rectify them with existing Free Software.

- Jeff

-- 
Ubuntu in Mataró, Spain: December 5th-18th      http://www.ubuntulinux.org/
 
     "Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark
                             Helmet, Spaceballs