Gilbert Sullivan wrote: > Andrew Wood wrote: > > Why do Linux distros consider it desirable to install Gnash by default? > > I understand the desire to have a free flash player but Gnash is a very > > poor implementation and I think it tarnishes Linux's image rather than > > enhances it. > > ... > > A newcomer to Linux would think this was the best the platform could > > offer, when in reality theyre far better off installing the 'real' Adobe > > player. OK it may be closed source but closed source isnt all evil and > > hats off to Adobe for actually making a Linux version which is pretty > > damn good if you give it a chance. > > > > Id be happy to see Gnash dead. > > I don't get it. There are lots of distros that do offer the proprietary > stuff by default. There are choices on this platform. Users should make > the ones that suit them best, and be satisfied with letting each distro > proceed according to its stated philosophy. (There are distros that > consider Debian too "liberal" with respect to licensing issues. They > offer NO repository support for proprietary software at all.) > > If you want Gnash dead, you can just let it be dead on your system. The > default Debian installation gives you the ability to use the contents of > the non-free and contrib repositories by default. (I disallow both of > them them from my sources.list file during the expert installation > process.) Or you can go with something like Ubuntu or Mint where the > Adobe player and reader and other stuff are officially supported in the > distro. > > I happen to appreciate the efforts of those who develop Gnash and > wouldn't want them (or the devs on the alternative free player > technologies) to cease their efforts. GNU/Linux is about having choices, > not about limiting all of the distros to be the same, and forcing all of > them to do what people with one particular bent want to see in an OS. Debian isn't a dictatorship distribution. It does not have one person with a single vision directing it in a single direction. Debian is a community of a thousand developers who all contribute to the common goal. This means Debian is more like a small town that holds regular town meetings in the town hall. Everyone has a different opinion. Everyone has a voice for their opinion. Some people think it should be this way. Some people think it should be that way. Discussion is held. Eventually a consensus is reached. Most of the time a con-census is reached. Sometimes people simply have irreconcilable differences and can only agree to disagree. It is like real people in a real small town. It is real people. But in a virtual town hall. http://www.debian.org/intro/about Debian has many core values. But one of the most important values is that it is a _free_ operating system. Free in this case means freedom and not without cost. Because Debian values freedom so highly this means that Debian can't include some nonfree components in the system. Adobe's Flash player isn't distributable under a free(dom) license. This is deeply important to a core value of Debian. It is more important to Debian than other values such as interoperating with popular proprietary programs such as Adobe Flash. http://www.debian.org/social_contract What do you do in that case? Do you avoid GNU Flash gnash too simply because it isn't as good as the Adobe version? But then you miss out on being able to view this content. And for people that are in the targeted audience of users who want only a totally free(dom) operating system should they be negatively impacted by avoiding gnash. And what about users of other architectures? The 64-bit amd64 is very popular. Yet Adobe has a very poor history of supporting it. ARM is in quite a bit if use and I think will only increase in popularity. Adobe has a very poor history of supporting any architecture other than 32-bit x86. But Debian has been called the Universal Operating System. For users who wish the same system across multiple architectures it would be hard to find a better implementation than Debian. Those users are in the target audience of Debian and also would like the best flash player available and at this moment the best flash player available for them is GNU Flash gnash. I think Debian has made reasonable choices. GNU Flash gnash is available if you wish it. If not then you are able to install the Adobe Flash with very little effort. It is nonfree and cannot be part of Debian but a free installer is provided in the contrib section. Really this more than anything illustrates that nonfree programs and protocols are bad for us. It is important to prevent nonfree software from being required. This is what makes the need for HTML5 to be completely free so important. We can correct the mistakes that were exploited that has caused so much trouble for so many people. Bob
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