The definition of FREE by Ubuntu. While trying to figure out how to make my Wireless work I ran into a few threads of discussions about DRIVERS that are given away at no cost (freeware) but are not open source (the company that made the drivers won't tell you how they made them). Several people were mad and were going to stop using Ubuntu because Ubuntu was going to use theses freeware driver from Nvidia and ATI drivers in their next release. Theses drivers are given away free by both companies but they are not open source.
In a move that reminds me of Microsoft, these Open Source Zealots brand these drivers as "NON FREE". The Zealots admit that the drivers work and are even better then the drivers that are Open Source but they claim that these drivers should not be used because the company that made them will not tell them how they made them. This is clearly a case of the Zealots trying to confuse people into thinking that by using the good working drivers provided for free from these companies that you are stealing or betraying Linux.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that non open source software has some problems (Quicken changes ever 2 years, making you upgrade or lose function), but when it comes to hardware drivers, who cares as long as they work. Who is more qualified to make the piece of software that communicates between your graphic card and you system? The company that made the graphics card or some zealot that has a "it works good enough for me" attitude.
After spending hours reading about the "NON FREE" vs "Open Source" crap, I learned that ever problem that I encountered up to this point could have been prevented if UBUNTU would have used "NON FREE" freeware drivers and codecs. (See how stupid "non free" freeware sounds)
If the Linux community wants Linux to succeeded they are going to have to give a little, companies spend millions of dollars developing the hardware and they have a right not to share that expensive work with you. They are providing you with FREE drivers to get it working and if they stop then you are sitting on a dead end road with last years hardware. You will always be behind, and never attract the critical mass of users that you need to get the big companies to pay attention to you and open up those drivers.
6 comments:
While I agree with many of your points, one thing to keep in mind that some companies will not allow certain things to be packaged with Linux, but you can download them. I have been using "non-free" items for a while with Linux and while I wish that they were included it reminds me of hunting down drivers needed when I install Windows and something does not work right. Now what should happen is a check box should be made available to users who wish to use, "non-free" items.
It is all part of the master conspiracy to let Windows rule the world :)
Sounds more and more like Ubuntu is the distro of choice for the Linux elite. If they want everything in their world to be open source they're welcome to it. I'd be more than happy to find a version of Linux that's more for people who just want stuff to work without having to spend hours scouring forums and customizing code.
I agree with rycherox, just give a distro that works. I've moved to just the laptop now. I need to get the desktop back and ready for windows. But I can keep linux on this laptop. And I will
Then this is what you want:
http://lt.k1011.nutime.de/
Linux Mint!
Sometimes its worth checking manufacturers oreign sites. I found better drivers for my Canon printer on their Japenese site after stumbling across a usenet post. These are binary drivers and are not available on any of their other sites but allow it to work to its full potential.
I am afraid I'm not much into zealotry and when it comes to hardware tend to be a bit more pragmatic and want it to work first and foremost and if it does so in an open manner great but otherwise I really don't care.
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