Duty of care and crass release management

[Richard Morrell]

Guys I've missed the lists the last few days, spent time working with amongst
others the Internet Watch Foundation and legal depts in my full time role of
heading up the security and acceptable use policies for some 12m users at one
of the worlds largest ISPs. A role I take seriously and one that I work hard
at.

So I'm busy sat at my desk and demonstrating Ubuntu (which I love to bits after
7 yrs of running and writing other Linux distros) and I am building an IBM T20
for a colleague with the last ISO which on install automatically updates to the
new updated image.

So I'm sat there with this guy - a Linux newbie but more importantly a very
influential legal counsel with a very large ISP and the machine reboots for the
first time. I let him login only for the guy to reel in shock with the "is this
a joke...". I look at the screen mortified doing a double take at my laptop
which still has original gdm and desktop and I'm like wtf ????

Now it took me two seconds to change the GDM greeter and backdrop but the
original furore ruined that experience and trust that that new user had in
Ubuntu.

People - you can shout me down as much as you want but I've released more Linux
iso's to more people than any of you on this list period. You're about winning
hearts and minds with good software. Being Slashdotted in 1999/2000 was good PR
now it's the pathetic sanctuary of Cmdr Taco's fanclub and other hairy palmed
muppets. I worked at Slashdot so please don't shout me down (well I worked at
VA  on Sourceforge when I wrote SW..).

Ubuntu is great - really powerful well designed well thought out and has an
ethos and a message that will win hearts and minds. So bearing that in mind how
the f**k did such a stupid and braindead decision get made to potentially offend
and alienate new users by making such a stupid move. Accept that this material
may raise a wry smile and none of us are prudish, however some of us have kids
and some of us also are aware that corporate liability means you just opened me
up a potential minefield. I have had to block all access to 13,000 staff to
Ubuntu's website and mirrors this evening.

Not good when 50k people an hr read my online blog and see me praising it and
then some of them being my staff get a denied access now trying to access it.
There is no way I can allow this installed on corporate machines.

Now if you want Ubuntu to be the toy of the home user community - cool you just
narrowed your market by 80% in one fell swoop. Either that or it's time to
realise that when you accept the responsibility of releasing a project and an
ISO that as much care and detail is needed in making sure you don't offend
people by being a dickwad as it is important to make sure you've got latest
glibc or openssh binaries.

This was a major step backward and one that could and should have been avoided.

Really not impressed

Sorry

Richard

--
Best Wishes

Richard Morrell - Linux Evangelist, Award winning founder and co-author of
SmoothWall, Sponsor of OpenSource development projects.

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