#57: Seeking Council feedback/input on draft third party software policy
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Reporter: pfrields | Owner:
Status: new | Priority: normal
Component: General | Resolution:
Keywords: workstation |
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Comment (by mattdm):
I'd like to separate my feedback on this into two parts. I think the first
is relatively
easy. That is:
mattdm proposal part 1:
The Fedora Council is generally in favor of a policy like this for
third-party software which conforms to Fedora's definition of free and
open source software. The policy must specify that the distinction between
software provided by Fedora and external software is clear to non-advanced
end users. The process for selection/curation of third-party software by
Working Groups or SIGs must be community-based and transparent.
I think that's pretty straightforward. Maybe a little wordy. :) Does
anyone have objections to tthat? This would allow references to, for
example, third-party FlatPak or Docker repositories of free software.
The second part is dealing with non-free third-party software. We know
that many of our users use Google Chrome or Steam on Fedora Workstation,
for example. I can see that the basic thesis of the proposal is that by
making it more apparent to users that they can easily get this popular
software on Fedora in an integrated way, we'll grow Fedora usage overall
and therefore have a net benefit towards our mission of advancing free and
open source software and culture.
Honestly, I'm not sold on that alone. I think our users have no problem
going to the web sites for that popular software, and if there are
FlatPaks or whatever there, that's probably fine. However, I think by
doing that, we actually miss an opportunity for education: when they go to
the site for some proprietary software, users just see that. We can use
our power in Fedora to gently educate about the value of free software and
promote alternatives.
I agree with Josh that we shouldn't dictate implementation details at the
council level, but I'd ''really'' like the designers to think about truly
advancing this goal through UX design - something ''beyond'' annoying pop-
up dialogs. As an example, if someone searches for "web browser", Firefox
should come up above Chrome or Opera or whatever.
In fact, I'm inclined to prefer a design where unless an opt-in has been
configured (the search tags in one mock-up I saw), only free and open
source software would show by default, with perhaps a message like
''"Other results appear in the [nonfree] tag, which is currently filtered
out. Click to reset this filter. Fedora does not endorse non-free
software. Learn more about [free software and open source software and why
this matters....]"''. I know that's implementation, but I mean it by way
of example.
If someone searches for particular software and there is an exact match by
name, that could show up as ''"{Chrome} appears in the [nonfree] tag,
which is ... (then same as above)"''.
I'm willing to try something like this to see if it works. Fedora
''should'' have the flexibility to try things, after all, and I see this
as a way to try a new way to advance our ultimate mission. If it is not
successful, we can revisit.
So:
mattdm proposal part 2:
The Council recognizes the inclusion of select third-party non-free
software in search results as a valid experiment in advancing Fedora's
mission. Such search results should prioritize free and open source
software, clearly specify that there is no endorsement, and offer links to
Fedora-prepared educational information. Additionally, default
configuration in Fedora Editions and Spins must hide non-free results from
search - although opting in need not be onerous (i.e., it can be a visible
filter rather than a buried checkbox, and there can be an indicator that
non-free results were hidden).
Council, What do you all think? Paul/Christian/Workstation, does this meet
what you're looking for? Rest of Fedora community, what do you think and
how do you feel about all this?
--
Ticket URL: <https://fedorahosted.org/council/ticket/57#comment:9>
council <https://fedorahosted.org/council>
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