[nzlug] favourite distro

[Simon Bridge]

On Tue, 2008-01-08 at 13:03 +1300, Nevyn wrote:
> On Jan 8, 2008 12:45 AM, Simon Bridge <simonbridge at ihug.co.nz> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Ubuntu's including proprietary drivers is, therefore, pause for thought.
> >
[snip]
> >
> > So it will be interesting to see how this compromise works out.
> 
> And again, the difference between the computer philosopher and the
> user who "just wants to get things done" (TM). 
A pragmatic user still needs to understand the costs being payed as a
result of their choice. If the user is non or ill informed about those
choices they cannot make an intelligent decision - even if I happen to
agree with it.

The trouble is not the pragmatists, but the ones who want things to
"just work" without having to think about it. After all, why learn when
ignorance is instantaneous?

> Ubuntu's approach seems
> to be a middle ground. Sure you can install this stuff but there are
> issues. It's better than the approach of adding a repository and then
> suddenly everything just seemed to work because there are dialogs
> informing the user that what they're grabbing isn't exactly free.

This is exactly correct. It is also better than the previous method
where people blindly used cut-and-paste instructions to install the
proprietary stuff or, worse, use automatix to do it for them.

They don't provide libdvdcss nor proprietary codecs, so you still get to
answer those "How do I play music in linux?" questions.

It also has the effect of solving the most common problems - getting
graphics and, more important, getting online.

Hopefully this will increase awareness of the issues and reduce
ignorance. But it is too early to say.

I would not like to see the number of proprietary stuff supplied
actually increase, and I would like to see fglrx *not* offered where the
free driver will run fusion.