On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 02:36:11AM -0600, Conrad Nelson wrote: > Here's another example: While Debian's come a long way, for > multimedia you STILL basically have to set up the third party Debian > Multimedia repository because Debian refuses to provide a TON of > media capability that even teh average user comes to expect on the > desktop. This one is less the DFSG and more fear that things like > libdvdcss might be marred by legal problems. So in this, to be fair, > it's probably less Debian's philosophy. > 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. 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. -Rob
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature