RMS, Free software and the Ubuntu CDs

[Florian Diesch]

jean gruneberg <kaosboss at gmail.com> wrote:

> Actually, I must admit I am getting a little tired of Stallman.  Time
> to move forward.  There will always be companies that have closed
> source drivers - live with it.
>
> Does being 100% free make for better software for the masses, no.  I
> can bet that Linspire / freespire / SUSe / RHED etc with mp3 / dvd /
> etc etc playback out the box will reach critical mass with neophyte

MP3 and DVD are a very different problem: there are free decoders for
both MP3 and DVD, they are just illegal in some countries (or it's at
least not clear if they are legal). So including them would make Ubuntu
illegal in this countries.


At least SuSE doesn't come with DVD and MP3 support (AFAIK the current version
doesn't even include the closed source nvidia drivers).


> desktop users way before Ubuntu, and don't get me wrong, I currently
> have 4 machines running dapper - but on each one I had to install
> additional software to play my mp3s / dvd etc.  The average joe shmo
> will install Ubuntu - pop in a dvd and...... nothing.... And them pop
> in the XP install disk and move on.

On the other hand Ubuntu comes with a office suite, XP doesn't.



   Florian
-- 
<http://www.florian-diesch.de/>