[ubuntu-uk] Sad but true? From the Register

[Colin Watson]

On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 05:29:00PM +0000, Liam Proven wrote:
> [1] She's using some kind of USB Internet connection that doesn't work
> out of the box. (USB because either Ethernet or wireless should work
> fine.) Could be a USB cable modem or ADSL modem, either of which would
> be Hard Work to set up, or it could be something like a 3G "dongle"
> (though those are rare in the USA) or a WiMax adaptor.
> 
> Either way, this is a problem in Ubuntu, if the woman can't get a
> connection easily.

I agree, and we'd love to get a bug report on this because we want this
to work out of the box.

Unfortunately, these devices vary widely. We have the basic support, and
many devices do work out of the box, but it tends to be something of a
whack-a-mole exercise. We're working on it ...

> [2] It's a completely Flash-driven site, when Ubuntu doesn't include
> Flash. This is a political decision - I've been debating it recently
> on Ubuntu-sounder, in fact. The sad reality is that because of the
> Ubuntu project's determination to ship only Free software, excluding
> drivers, when Ubuntu comes out of the box, it's crippled. No Java is a
> minor problem, no RealPlayer or QuickTime or WindowsMedia is a bigger
> one, no MP3 support is a big issue, but no Flash is absolutely huge. A
> great many websites are completely inaccessible because they are
> entirely Flash-driven.
> 
> This is again a problem with Ubuntu, but it's a deliberately-chosen
> one, and I'm not sure if anything can be done about it.

As I recently wrote on the sounder list: Adobe are entirely aware of the
existence of Ubuntu, and we are expressly forbidden from distributing
Flash in this manner. Unless you want Ubuntu to be distributed only from
a single site, with no more permission to share it with your friends, we
can't do this.

Yes, as it happens, by policy we wouldn't distribute the non-free Flash
implementation as a default part of Ubuntu even if we could (although we
could make it easier) - but the fact remains that we cannot.


There are ways to improve Flash that do not involve distributing Adobe's
plugin in Ubuntu by default. For instance, the integration of Flash is
smoother in Ubuntu 8.10 than in previous releases (see
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/flash-experience-intrepid),
and I believe that fewer users should have a hard time getting it
working now.

And, of course, the best way to get excellent Flash support in Ubuntu in
the long term is going to be to improve the free Flash implementations.
We've made it easier to switch between implementations to try them out.
Yes, Gnash is still rather crashy at times. The only way it will improve
is if people report those bugs. We've spoken with the Gnash developers;
they are incredibly keen to do everything they can to make it work well
for us, and desperate for bug reports (against as current a version of
Gnash as possible, if you can). Please give them what they need!

-- 
Colin Watson                                       [cjwatson at ubuntu.com]