[ubuntu-za] Is Ubuntu Appcentre end of the road for FOSS?

[Morgan Collett]

On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 21:44, Ludolph <ludolph at openhazel.co.za> wrote:
> On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 7:06 PM, David Robert Lewis
> <ethnopunk at telkomsa.net> wrote:
>> http://indlovu.wordpress.com/

David, please include context when you post a link...

> David why would you just send a link like that to a mailing list? Have
> you even followed up on the sources of the article. Because I read
> through the article and it is spreading pure fear, uncertainty and
> doubt based on nothing!
>
> A much better link would have been:
>
> http://www.stefanoforenza.com/ubuntu-appstore-in-the-workings/
>
> This link is also a source in the article you posted. But one doesn't
> need to read the rants of a tinfoil hat loony to get to to it.

Ludolph, no need to call fellow ubuntu enthusiasts loonies just
because you disagree :)

My take on this App Centre:
* It's a better gui than the existing ones. The underlying package
management remains deb packages from repositories.
* There is already a Canonical partner repository.
* There is no way to close the existing 25000 odd packages in the
repos. They are not just free they are (almost all) Free.
* You can already purchase commercial software to run on Ubuntu.
* Only a trivial number of users purchase software for Ubuntu (IMHO).
* Apple's restrictive policies for their App store have only increased
the jailbreak community and the piracy community, resulting in
alternative app repos as well as people hacking the DRM out of the
commercial apps and posting them free for download.
* Ubuntu (not Canonical!) also has restrictive policies in placing
packages in repositories... you need to prove your experience before
you can gain upload rights, for example. However Ubuntu as a platform
isn't locked down so you can simply host your own packages in a PPA or
other repo.
* In contrast to Apple's lockdown environment, Free Software allows
and even encourages forking. Ubuntu has over the past several years
been positioning itself as a stable base for others to customise,
creating derivative distros which can use the Ubuntu repos or their
own.
* Remember that 99% of "Ubuntu development" happens elsewhere -
upstream projects like Firefox or openOffice.org, and packaging in
Debian. Ubuntu's been very successful at taking that work, standing on
the shoulders of thousands of midgets (and maybe a couple of giants)
and producing a more usable system.

Conclusion:
* Ubuntu's polishing their desktop experience. Some of the people
involved are paid by Canonical (like Matthew Paul Thomas, the UI lead)
while others aren't.

Read http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/162 on polishing the
user experience.

Regards
Morgan

PS Please keep the temperature down on this list... No need for either
rants or flame wars... Remember the Code of Conduct applies to this
list. :)