[Mageia-discuss] Hauppauge WinTV PVR-250

[Hoyt Duff]

On 6/7/11, Michael Scherer <misc at zarb.org> wrote:

>
> There is lots of firmware that cannot even be distributed. Of course, we
> could do like Canonical and just pretend laws do not exist :
> http://fasmz.org/~pterjan/blog/?date=20090423 , s this clearly annoy
> users...
>
Here's how I understand the argument. There are three scenarios:
1-Software is licensed to allow distribution.
2-Software license specirfically prohibits distribution.
3-Software license is undetermined.

So this means that:
1-OK. Distribute if possible per the terms of the license.
2-Software should not be distributed. Interested parties in the
community may work towards a license change if they desire.
3-It's the responsibiltyof the copyright holder to enforce their
rights. Group A says that all such sofware should not be distributed
until license staus can be determined. Group B says to distribute
software until copyright holder complains; no complaint equals implied
permission to distribute. Again, interested parties in the community
may work towards a license change if they desire.

All those arguments are separate from "just works" for the Mageia
user. The people with solid Linux expertise (such as those that lead
the Mageia community) are aware of license issues for software, are
aware of those hardware devices that are not supported (for various
reasons) under Linux and make their decisions accordingly. They
understand why some hardware doesn't "just work". They check before
they purchase or they write their own software to make teh hardware
work.

The rest of the universe of Linux users are unaware of such issues or
don't care (not everyone can be RMS). They want Mageia to "just work".
They will blame Mageia, not the hardware manufacturer, not the
software copyright holder, not Linus Torvalds, not Richard Stallman
nor Ubuntu/Canonical/Shuttleworth.

What makes the situation worse is that Ubuntu blatantly rejects a
"pure", follow-the-license-strictly approach in order to provide their
version of "just works". That makes everybody else look bad and puts
an unjust burden on those who follow a stricter guideline who must
bear the brunt of undeserved criticsm.

The question is how will Mageia balance the need for "just works" with
the desire to honor copyrights and engage only in legal software
distribution? This is made more complex because those rights and
copyright laws are not equal everywhere in the world.

I would support a stricter interpretation of the distribution of those
softwares when coupled with improved education of the user. In my
opinion, Canonical is doing the larger community a disservice.

-- 
Hoyt