Rob Owens wrote at 2013-11-10 12:30 -0600: > My first permanent Linux distribution (after trying a Knoppix live cd) > was Mandrake. When I started using it to rip my music CDs, it defaulted > to ogg vorbis. I was expecting mp3. "What the hell is this ogg > stuff?", I remember asking myself. > > I figured out how to switch to mp3 format. But a seed was planted in my > head, and I soon learned what ogg was and why it was important. I > switched back to ripping to ogg vorbis. Years later when my wife wanted > a portable music player, I searched high and low to find one that > supported ogg vorbis. There weren't many, but I was determined to "vote > with my wallet" and not use mp3. At the time, mp3 was not only > patent-encumbered, but it sounded much worse than ogg vorbis at the > bitrates commonly used in that day. > > Years later still, I wanted a portable music player for myself. It was > now much easier to find one that supported ogg vorbis (and even flac). > There were forums of people recommending such players. I settled on a > Sandisk Sansa Clip+. > > My point is that Mandrake's choice of default music format helped to > educate me. It pushed me to demand the support of open formats from > hardware vendors. Maybe they listened to me, or maybe it was just > coincidence, but support for open formats in portable music players has > been increasing since I started using Linux around 2005. This sure > feels to me like a win for open standards and user education. > > So when Debian chooses ideals over practicality, it may be rendering > itself unusable to certain users. But it is also driving more advanced > users to explore alternatives to non-free software. It may be driving > the > even more advanced users to *write* alternatives to non-free software. > This, I believe, is why it is important for Debian not to compromise its > principles. Excellent example! > Debian *is* the DFSG and the Social Contract. I use Debian because of > that. There are plenty of other operating systems that I could use if I > cared more about ease of use and less about freedom. The world is full > of such systems. What would be the benefit of adding Debian to that > list? It would become just another OS, as it discards the very things > that set it apart from the rest.
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