[svlug] Fedora or Ubuntu for novis

[Alan DuBoff]

On Fri, 12 Sep 2008, Don Marti wrote:

> Yes, there are independently maintained repositories
> for patent-restricted codecs and some software whose
> license doesn't allow redistribution.  Depending on
> the juristiction, it could be a legal risk for a
> mirror operator to host that stuff, and Canonical as
> a company can't go near it.
>  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats
>
> Same for Red Hat and Fedora.
>  http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/ForbiddenItems
>
> Fedora has a tool that lets you buy a license:
>  http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Multimedia/Codeina
>
> There are scripts out there, called "Automatix" and
> "EasyUbuntu" that will add this stuff with one click.
> Unfortunately their method of interacting with the
> package manager is like doing brain surgery with a
> Garden Weasel, and you could destroy some important
> data or mess up your ability to do future upgrades.
>
> I think Rick Moen posted a link to a script that will
> do the necessary changes safely, but I don't see it
> in a search.

Don,

Look, this bothers me in many ways, I continually beat my head 
against the wall trying to ensure that I can have a system that 
has the open source software on it that I want, as a user. Some 
of these same issues get in the way for me, with all of open 
source.

Open source doesn't belong under a Corporation. This just 
proves it even more. In some ways Corporate dictates additional 
restrictions upon us, as users. Well, one can argue that 
Corporate America dictates to us, so that we can be blessed with 
their ability to make a profit, but have their comfy blanket to 
protect them in a corporate world.

I was recently giving a presentation on the Kerbango radio, and 
one of the slides had obstacles I faced with management to keep 
the radio free, so that people could use the radio without 
providing any personal information, at all. That you didn't 
violate their freedoms by forcing them into providing you with 
information. In the end the agreement I could come to an 
agreement with the management was that you were able to use the 
radio without giving any information, and it would function in 
100% capacity as a radio, with the exception that if you would 
provide some personal information, you can store personal 
information for the radio (i.e., personal favorites, presets for 
online audio streams, abiltiy to purchase through the device, 
etc...).

Yesterday, I got an email from a friend (SVLUG friend 
actually;-) for the Pandora BBQ splash that Logitech was 
throwing. I haven't been following some of the audio devices 
such as SqueezeBox Boom. The developer mentioned the problems 
they're having with BMI/ASCAP/RIAA, where these companies get to 
sit in a room every 5 years and determine their fate. As it 
turns out, their fate doesn't look good, and when the folks sat 
inside their little room recently, the fees they came up with 
were not reasonable. So they reached out to the audience asking 
them to help lobby in any way they can, and explained some of 
the lobbying that has already gone on...and how if this doesn't 
change Pandora could be put out of business.

All of this didn't encourage me to buy their SqueezeBox Boom 
product with real $$$s out of my own pocket, if anything I was 
getting kinda cautious about them getting any of my $$$s and I 
was watching my pocket so they didn't slip their hand in it.:-)

They also mentioned they're in the middle of a patent lawsuit 
with a company that is claiming that Logitech is violating their 
IP with the Pandora products. This is kinda paraphrased, but the 
bottom line is that they are going through the same game in a 
patent suit. I was scratching my head on that, how could any of 
them claim early existence over Kerbango??? And would that give 
3Com rights to go after them as well? As you know the radio 
wasn't released an a product from 3Com...

I am waiting to see how Android pans out. One of the most 
exciting things is the opportunity to have a device that would 
allow me to have access and ability to store my personal data, 
such as vmails, text messages, photos, music, etc...and I am 
curious to see how Google can work all of that into working with 
an ISP, so that people can hook up their phones and use them on 
a network, and not just have another device that prevents us 
from getting the data that belongs to us in the first place. As 
an example, I use a Motorola razer today, a friend sends me a 
picture, my ISP charges me extra to receive that picture *AND* 
they charge me extra if I want to get it out of my phone. Mac 
will let me connect with bluetooth, and I hear that Windows does 
also (I rarely use Windows), but I can't just get access to my 
phone data without jumping through some hoops or paying my ISP 
to get them sent to me. In some cases even though I can view 
them on the phone, the viewer is too small and that is not 
useful to me.

Yeah, I want an Android, but I hope my Android doesn't end up 
being an iPhone, in the sense of it not being truly open.

All of this licensing just continues to rear it's ugly head at 
us, and violates our freedoms...what an fsckin' mess this 
is...and we can give credit to the patent, copyright, and 
licensing system that has been put in place...:-( I know I'm 
preachin' to the choir, but I've been in this choir for a long 
time and I'm not about to quit singing, or preachin'...

--

Alan DuBoff - Software Orchestration