Why I support the use of non-free software in Linux

I appreciate the comments made by Lonnie and Anonymous. Let me address your concerns.

First, I want to point out that 99.99% of the software available in Ubuntu (including the application repositories) will still be open source. However, the 0.01% of non-free software has a very visible impact on the user experience.

If the average user can't listen to music, watch a movie, or play a 3-D game, then they will not get a chance to use the other 99.99% of free software that is included with Ubuntu. That is why Mark Shuttleworth said that shipping proprietary drivers is the best way to allow users to experience the rest of the free software stack.

Lonnie - Yes, the people that will be attracted by this tactic will be the average computer user. They are looking for software that simply works well for them. If they can get that without having to pay for it, then they will use Ubuntu. These users will appreciate the great open source operating system they get for free, and would be willing to listen to Ubuntu when considering the purchase of a graphics card. The pressure on ATI and Nvidia will not come until Linux has the "weight" to threaten the sales of their products. This is the Chicken and the Egg question, and I believe the Chicken needs to come first.

Also, I am glad you have a free alternative to use (gnewsense). Open source is all about providing users with the power of choice. You can choose to use the software, or you can choose to modify it and use that version. (Of course, there are many benefits to pooling our resources around good open source projects. I hope gnewsense will help improve Ubuntu, and Ubuntu will help improve gnewsense)

Anonymous - I am always excited about the development of open source replacements of proprietary software. I encourage people to use those drivers, and to help with the development of them. Perhaps this story will end similar to that of of Java. Java was slowly being replaced by ever improving free java clones, so Sun decided to open source the software.

In conclusion - I know where you are coming from, since we share the same passion for open source software. We are both concerned about losing sight of our goal, which is a completely open source operating system and applications. What we disagree on, is how to best reach this goal.

Every great accomplishment in this world has involved taking some risks. I believe that including some non-free software in the short-term will actually advance free software in the long-term, and it is a risk we should take.

Update: I also want to share these videos of people talking about the planned improvements in Ubuntu.

Comments

  1. Unknown11/21/2006 3:46 AM

    Tristan you have inspired me to blog again. And I agree with what your saying but I have nothing intelligent to say about it right now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown11/21/2006 4:28 AM

    "Every great accomplishment in this world has involved taking some risks. I believe that including some non-free software in the short-term will actually advance free software in the long-term, and it is a risk we should take."


    No. Perhaps you're right that it will be an advantageous gamble. However, this is not the kind of risk I would *ever* take. Free Software is not about technology or even about making the world a better place. It's about Freedom, and to betray that principle for the sake of advancing the cause of free software to me is incompatible with my conviction. You say you don't understand where I'm coming from (I'm aligning myself with the antagonist in your argument for the sake of counter argument). This is why our opinions on the subject differ, and I think, differ in a fundamental way. To take this course of action would be to betray the very principles we stand for and how could anyone ever listen to us then, let alone trust us?

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  3. Unknown11/21/2006 6:33 AM

    I agree with what Justin Findlay said, but I would like to comment on your argument about users.

    I think your interest in Free Software and computers in general has clouded your vision of what an average user would do. You seem to forget the demographic of "most computer users".

    Average users are *lazy*. They don't try software and get excited and work hard to find out more information. Average users blindly click by popups that inform and/or educate them. If it works they just don't care. They don't buy new video cards, they just buy new machines.

    An example... My Mom. She doesn't care what operating system the machine is running. She blindly clicks on things. She doesn't care about updates or upgrades. I only hear from her when something is broken. She doesn't care that her computer isn't running Free Software.

    Using simple psychology, the way to get her to understand and care about Free Software isn't to give her a machine running _mostly_ Free Software. She would just accept it and move on with her life. Give her 100% Free Software, and she will move along happily until she tries that site that requires Flash, or tries out a game that requires accelerated X. Then she will complain loudly.

    Remember, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil". Average users don't squeak until something doesn't work. Let's work on getting them into Free Software using other tactics. It's usually free (of cost), no viruses, no spyware, safer browsing.

    But the bottom line really is not sacrificing principles for popularity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tristan Rhodes11/21/2006 9:59 PM

    Thanks for your responses.

    Justin: "Free Software is not about technology or even about making the world a better place. It's about Freedom."

    Are you sure about that? What is the real reason we support open source? In my opinion it *IS* for the purpose of making the world a better place. If first-world countries spend resources to develop high-quality open source software, then all of humanity will benefit from that investment.

    Open source software is not always better quality than proprietary software, but I do believe it is always ethically superior.

    Lonnie: "I agree with what Justin Findlay said..."

    I also want to ask you what is the "big-picture" reason for supporting open source software? Please share your opinion.

    I agree with your description of the average user, and it is something that we need to keep in mind when making decisions about software.

    "Then she will complain loudly."

    The thing is, we don't want her to complain loudly. If she has a bad experience because of not being able to view a Flash website, she will associate the bad experience with Linux. Since you mentioned psychology, I would point out this chain of events is an example of classic conditioning (review the Little Albert experiment = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Albert).

    Unable to view flash website (US) => Frustration (UR) Natural response.

    Unable to view flash website (US) + Big Ubuntu Linux logo (CS) => Frustration (UR) After pairing them.

    Big Ubuntu Linux logo (CS) => Frustration (CR) Learning occurs. Notice how the response never changes.

    In the case of Little Albert, he started to generalize the conditioned stimulus with other items that were similar to the original stimulus. In the case of your Mom, this can happen so that she feels frustrated whenever she sees any Linux, open source, or free software.

    I do not believe in "sacrificing principles for popularity", just for the sake of popularity. As I have stated, popularity is a necessary step to get the industry to take notice of our needs.

    Step 1: Gain popularity.
    Step 2: ??? (Flex muscles)
    Step 3: Profit!!! Err... I mean "Become completely open source"

    ReplyDelete

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