[kwlug disc.] All of you Ubuntu people

[Rashkae]

On Sat, Feb 10, 2007 at 02:51:39PM -0500, Rick wrote:
> 
> Is this a permissive or even enthusiastic slide?
> Or is proprietary material a short-term tactic
> in a long-term strategy of building up critical mass?
> If seen as a tactic, then Paul's comment may be overly pessimistic.
> However, if Ubuntu is enthusiastic about pulling in
> "lots of proprietary goodness", then Paul's comment is bang on.
> 

Ubuntu is like Linus, they go with what works and leave the politics to other people... As far as that goes, Ubuntu puts all the proprietary, legally restricted or otherwise questionable packages in their own little repositories.   (Restricted for the official packages, and Multiverse for the community packages)... if you don't like it, don't install software from those repos.  Ubuntu's own contributions, however, are all free software.  (The new replacement for init, called upstart, is absolutely wonderful.  Check it out!)  Unless your the type of person who thinks availability of closed source software is socially harmful thing which must be destroyed and allowed to die, I don't see any reason to view Ubuntu negatively.