On 11/5/07, seth vidal <skvidal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On Mon, 2007-11-05 at 07:20 -0800, Karsten Wade wrote: > > On Sun, 2007-11-04 at 15:14 -0500, seth vidal wrote: > > > http://lwn.net/Articles/256974/ > > > > > > Btw - in the interview they mention further integration of the webstore > > > into codeina/codecbuddy. If it starts looking like we're pushing closed > > > source software then that, imo, is when codeina gets dumped out of the > > > distribution. > > > > Agreed; we should not be shipping a shill. > > > > > I don't care about needles and I don't want to ween the addicts off. > > > > People who build their houses on the top of the hill so the addicts in > > the valley don't steal from them are just delaying the inevitable. > > > > We can remove ourselves from the problem entirely, but it doesn't make > > the problem go away, and it doesn't stop it from growing larger (again) > > to engulf us. > > If that's the case then we should just give up on this quixotic goal of > having a pure-free-software distro and start talking to companies for > how they'd like us to provide their closed-source packages and how to > tie a webstore frontend into yum. I'm not sure if these lines are useful to you, Seth, but there are two tests for me that make me slightly less uncomfortable with these plugins than with other things: (1) is it low in the stack? if the non-free bit is low in the stack (e.g., X drivers) you're at the mercy of the vendor- all of your freedom is at risk if they go away. If the non-free bit is high in the stack, you still have the majority of your freedom intact if the non-freedom gets screwed up somehow, and you can more easilly work to replace it. (Here, the bits are very high in the stack, and very easy to replace- we'll have free implementations the very day the patents expire. But of course we should resist moving the dep deeper into the stack- no system sounds shipped as mp3, for example.) (2) does it create non-free data, or merely allow consumption of external non-free data? If we allow people to bring their stuff with them (or import it from the non-free world) we're clearly helping them move towards freedom. If we're helping them create non-free data, we're in a different boat- that is a step back. (You might argue that it is two steps forward one step back, but it is still different than merely helping consume legacy media.) [Tangentially, I feel comfortable saying that mp3 is not system-critical, but exactly where in the stack flash is is a very interesting question at this point, given how much of the web depends on it. And the firefox Fedora ships *tries* to download flash, even if it fails.] [Also, tangent: Fedora should definitely use 'legacy media' where ever possible to describe mp3s and other proprietary formats.] Luis _______________________________________________ fedora-advisory-board mailing list fedora-advisory-board@xxxxxxxxxx http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-advisory-board
