Richard Stallman Talks About Ubuntu

[Patrick Asselman]

On 2013-08-01 10:21, Ali Linx (amjjawad) wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 12:13 PM, Tom H <tomh0665 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 3:57 AM, Ali Linx (amjjawad) 
>> <amjjawad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Any comment about this?
>> >
>> > http://youtu.be/CP8CNp-vksc [1]
>>
>> This is a technical support not a discussion list.
>
> You maybe right but the link I sent, as far as I can tell, it is
> purely technical. 
> Anyway, where is the best place for me to ask since you consider this
> off-topic here?
>
> Thanks :) 
>

This is obviously an old video, dating back from the release of v12.10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(operating_system)#Controversy

There was some discussion on this list about it back then. If I recall 
correcly, most people were not too happy about the privacy violation, 
but were content once they heard it was easily switched off. If you want 
details, check out the mailing list archives.

Of course an advocate of free software would point out that this is a 
bad move, just as an advocate of old hardware would point out that it is 
a bad move to have the install cd no longer fit on a CD. The question 
is: what is it that Ubuntu is aiming for? The answer is probably 
something along the lines of: creating an operating system that provides 
a pleasant user experience. This may mean that they add easy access to 
non-free software such as Java, which may not be to the liking of mr. 
Stallman, but is darn useful for the average user.

So the conclusion is: the world is not black, nor is it white. It is a 
shade of grey, and fortunately you have some control over how grey you 
want it (i.e. you can choose which operating system you use).

Best regards,
Patrick Asselman