investigating the legality of scripts installing complete multimedia (Re: honest ubuntu roadmap (was: [hoary] Array CD 7/6 bugs

[Philippe Landau]

hello Jerome Gotangco

> If that's the case, the Docteam can help on this, explain further why
> we cannot put such third-party stuff for legal reasons and give
> alternatives instead so we can still focus on the goals of Ubuntu as a
> distribution. Although I just joined the Docteam just recently, your
> post just reminded me to check on such matters. Thanks.

you see, i understand and appreciate Canonical's point of view
that they can not include proprietary codecs and players.

where i miss honesty is when they say it is a matter
for lawyers to decide, and then refuse to consult a lawyer
on the question of the legality of pointing to scripts
and installers that would complete Ubuntu with just
two or three clicks/downloads.

no business can operate without consulting lawyers,
so why not clarify this aspect for Linux ?
all distributions are currently struggling with this question,
and many do much more to satisfy the needs of simple users.

the minimum that could be done is to launch an equivalent
of what "PLF" (Penguin Liberation Front) does for Mandrake.
there currently are instructions on how to make things work
on ubuntu, but they are not simplified to the point
of general and *unified* adoption,
with the effect that multimedia on ubuntu is
inadequately tested and thus buggier then necessary.

kind regards     philippe

--

>>>>installing very popular prorietary codecs and players
>>>>is still more complicated then just downloading
>>>>an additional script/installer.
>>>>so the multimedia capabilities remain largely untested and buggy.
>>>
>>>Unfortunately, WMV streams cannot be played in Ubuntu without the addition
>>>of third-party or otherwise unsupported software.  We are aware of this
>>>problem, but unfortunately there is little to be done about it.
>>>
>>>If you can justify your claim that multimedia capabilities in general are
>>>not working well, please provide an example using only supported software.
>>
>>non-free movie playback is essential for simple users.
>>examples are provided on this mailinglist on a regular basis.
>>canonical just chooses to consistently answer with
>>"not allowed to do it,
>>not allowed to look into it."
> 
>