Comments on: Free Software: the evolutionary way http://davidnielsen.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/free-software-the-evolutionary-way/ Random madness, including but not limited to GNOME and Linux Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:07:40 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: davidnielsen http://davidnielsen.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/free-software-the-evolutionary-way/#comment-195 davidnielsen Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:06:41 +0000 http://davidnielsen.wordpress.com/?p=262#comment-195 My main concern here is taking viable options and scrapping them in favor of nothing. I am fully on the side of the Freedom zealots when it comes to the end goal, all that stuff needs to go - but we can't really go and break peoples setups and it seems irresponsible to remove features without having a plan to replace them. Especially since upstream will never go for this without said solution. Especially when this approach it seems removes stuff that isn't even non-free (see Hans' reply in the thread). My feelings on Codina as a valuable tool are well known, I disagree with you that the approach you elected is viable or even defendable towards our users. I am there for sorry I voted as I did in the board election, I feel that the board no longer represents what I envision when I contribute to Fedora as such my general level of pleasure in contributing is at an all time low - Next time around I will be sure to ask pointed questions to the nominees to ensure this kind of user disaster doesn't repeat itself. For now I will bow my head in shame and accept the outcome you have decided for us. My main concern here is taking viable options and scrapping them in favor of nothing. I am fully on the side of the Freedom zealots when it comes to the end goal, all that stuff needs to go – but we can’t really go and break peoples setups and it seems irresponsible to remove features without having a plan to replace them. Especially since upstream will never go for this without said solution. Especially when this approach it seems removes stuff that isn’t even non-free (see Hans’ reply in the thread).

My feelings on Codina as a valuable tool are well known, I disagree with you that the approach you elected is viable or even defendable towards our users. I am there for sorry I voted as I did in the board election, I feel that the board no longer represents what I envision when I contribute to Fedora as such my general level of pleasure in contributing is at an all time low – Next time around I will be sure to ask pointed questions to the nominees to ensure this kind of user disaster doesn’t repeat itself. For now I will bow my head in shame and accept the outcome you have decided for us.

]]> By: quaid http://davidnielsen.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/free-software-the-evolutionary-way/#comment-194 quaid Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:29:12 +0000 http://davidnielsen.wordpress.com/?p=262#comment-194 Agreed on replacing functionality when it's lost due to making a decision for freedom. You are right that leverage is important, and a large userbase is a key to that; it is a fine line we walk in trying to create leverage while adhering to fundamental principals. No wonder we all stumble a bit. There was a better direction to move with Codeina by making it possible to drop in "additional codec options", and this is now much harder since we screwed the pooch with the upstream. Que sera sera. Still, iirc Bill Nottingham has agreed to take on the Codeina package and do the best we can with replacing functionality. The best solution would be for upstream to fix the package to not include installable codecs by default, which could then be dropped in by the user, by personal choice. As it happens, this functionality would match what was requested of Codeina/CodecBuddy originally. The default codec list was added by upstream of their own volition, which is too bad since it resulted in the current situation. (Nor did the Board's day-late, dollar-short approach, <a href="http://iquaid.org/2008/03/16/fluendo-bastien-et-al-im-sorry-fwiw/" rel="nofollow">while explicable</a>, treat Fluendo or the package maintainer in the right way.) Remember, with these changes to Codeina for Fedora 9, the real effect to the user is having one additional click to get to the codecs. Without Codeina, a feature requested by Fedora to resolve the ugly "no codec installed" error message from GStreamer-using applications, there was no way to educate users or point them at solutions. With Codeina, we can educate and point at solutions. All the recent Fedora Board CodecBuddy decision did was remove the ability to immediately install a non-free, patent-encumbered package from directly inside of Fedora. Now that package installation is relegated to a web shop experience, where it belongs. Agreed on replacing functionality when it’s lost due to making a decision for freedom. You are right that leverage is important, and a large userbase is a key to that; it is a fine line we walk in trying to create leverage while adhering to fundamental principals. No wonder we all stumble a bit.

There was a better direction to move with Codeina by making it possible to drop in “additional codec options”, and this is now much harder since we screwed the pooch with the upstream. Que sera sera. Still, iirc Bill Nottingham has agreed to take on the Codeina package and do the best we can with replacing functionality. The best solution would be for upstream to fix the package to not include installable codecs by default, which could then be dropped in by the user, by personal choice. As it happens, this functionality would match what was requested of Codeina/CodecBuddy originally. The default codec list was added by upstream of their own volition, which is too bad since it resulted in the current situation. (Nor did the Board’s day-late, dollar-short approach, while explicable, treat Fluendo or the package maintainer in the right way.)

Remember, with these changes to Codeina for Fedora 9, the real effect to the user is having one additional click to get to the codecs. Without Codeina, a feature requested by Fedora to resolve the ugly “no codec installed” error message from GStreamer-using applications, there was no way to educate users or point them at solutions. With Codeina, we can educate and point at solutions. All the recent Fedora Board CodecBuddy decision did was remove the ability to immediately install a non-free, patent-encumbered package from directly inside of Fedora. Now that package installation is relegated to a web shop experience, where it belongs.

]]>