And if Red Hat and Progeny is giving back to the community why not back them in the competition?
that would be the best thing to do if Ubuntu continues keeping launchpad partialy closed.
Why should we side with someone who does
not respect us? It is not that we are gonna fight against ubuntu, when we get to chose, which one to go for. People might have different priorities, and I respect it. I just shared what my thoughts are on it. Just in case it helps you in making a decision.
Not really. Please check it for your self.
Good.
in which case we must not say that Ubuntu does not acknowledge GNU.
It is about prioritizing. I would give Freedom a higher priority that ease of use, you are Free to give other aspects which you feel are more important a higher priority. I wanted to share my concerns what happens when Freedom isn't a higher priority. Again just in case if it helps you when you make a decision - knowing what might happen when you chose technical merit over Freedom. Remember we reached where we are today because many people cared Freedom more than easy to use. There were people using Free Software when most of the hardware would not work, when Open Office was not there, when beryl was not there ... It might help to look back so that we won't have to repeat the same mistakes.
True. Only how many people you know came onto GNU/Linux ONLY because of the Freedom aspect? i.e they believed in the Freedom and then said - hey why don't i apply this to the software i use as well. Then started using GNU/Linux, i haven't met anyone with that story so far.
Nearly every GNU/Linux i personally know came to the system first because of tech reasons and later discovered the GNU philosophy and then were enlightened to the fact that Freedom IS of paramount importance.
Therefore let the people come forth onto Ubuntu and get used to things. As they learn and evolve in their thinking on the aspects of Freedom, they will automatically reject anything that is tainted by restrictions. Again - the law of nature prevails. In fact physically trying to make people use a distro or switch to another just gives them the feeling that they are being bossed around albeit for good reasons. i'd like to call it Natural Selection in software.
When there is debian, gnewsense ... why would I choose windows. Life is always about compromises, you try to achieve high priority things and sometimes don't mind losing lower priority things.
Hmm...
I already told I will support them if and when they come out with a completely Free distribution.
opinion respected.
are you saying that the M$ Novell will not affect Debian users and developers?
How will MS-Novell deal will affect Debian users and developers?
if it is proven in a court of law that a particular software patent owned my M$ is being violated by a Debian user/developer that/those person(s) are liable to be sued.
The
threat from MS id the same as that before the deal.
Eben Moglen has stated that the recent threat of lawsuits to developers by M$ is ``no comfort at all".
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-6132156-7.html
Now that Novell is
in a tough situation as the deal would violate GPLv3. The MS threat is an annual "The Be very afraid tour" spreading FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and there is no substance in it.
agreed. Only caution is needed.
"So threatening is better than suing, okay? Imagine a party who engages in recurrent threats every summertime, for years on end, on a sort of annual "Be very afraid" tour, okay?
:-)
I know, it sounds absurd, I know." http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_%E2%80%9CBe_very_afraid%E2%80%9D_tour
:-)
The party needs protection from the deal is Novell. "Don't Worry About Novell; Worry for Them" http://linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/interviews/6388/3/
True, only Novell doesn't seem to be afraid at all.
"..and whose main distribution sites distribute only free software." http://www.gnu.org/links/links.html#FreeGNULinuxDistributions
agreed.
and when they don't ?
Only then you have to worry about it, right? Why would Ubuntu give me non-free drivers when everything I wanted work well with Free drivers?
agreed. Only that means one round of a compatability check for a new user before installation. O.K, that seems fair.
and I respect that.
and i respect your opinions as well.
:-)
Regards,
- vihan