So the real issue is propaganda, not product
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| Author | Content |
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| TerryH May 12, 2006 10:55 AM EDT |
My initial reaction to Pamela Jones' tirade was pretty negative, and I still think she's off-base, but I think I understand the reaction now. What's ticking you folks off is not what Linspire *is*, but rather what Linspire *claims*. I.e. it's spreading FUD about FLOSS when it tries to emphasize its "value-add"* as a means of differentiating itself. I say this, because Linspire seems to draw a disproportionate amount of ire, when there are, after all, a slew of "value add" Linux systems (the old SuSE, the boxed MEPIS, Xandros, etc). Myself, I don't feel threatened by those things existing in the marketplace. I do feel kind of dirty every time I install a non-free package on my system (you could equate this to moral repugnance, but it's also an itchy feeling that it's going to come back to bite me later -- which it inevitably does: all this proprietary junk breaks every time I upgrade my system). This reality is another reason why I don't feel too threatened -- other users are, sooner or later, going to notice this same problem, which is endemic to closed-source drivers. I tolerate non-free software solely for entertainment software -- for some time now, I have insisted on 100% FLOSS for anything I actually *need*, because I have way too much Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt about proprietary software. I build my own computers, and I spend the time to make sure that my hardware is supported. So far this hasn't been a show-stopper, though I am troubled by the trends in the high-end video market. OTOH, a closed-source driver is often better than no driver, and I can't really fault a distribution packager for taking that headache away from me. If the user is primarily interested in just getting on with using their system, they aren't going to be very effective activists anyway, and just increasing the Linux marketshare is probably a positive thing. BUT, I can see the point in attacking unfair marketing claims. FUD from a value-add Linux is just as bad as Microsoft FUD, and I suppose it's "sharper than a serpent's tooth" simply because the company itself is enabled by the very FLOSS labor that it is dissing. I would have to suggest narrowing the attack, though: it would make more sense, probably be more effective, and would definitely be more consistent to attack these negative messages rather than attacking the Linspire (or Freespire) distributions. Otherwise, I think it sows a lot of confusion, and won't achieve much. *Yeah, yeah "freedom-subtracted". I know the gnu-speak. |
| grouch May 12, 2006 11:25 AM EDT |
>"I would have to suggest narrowing the attack, though: it would make more sense, probably be more effective, and would definitely be more consistent to attack these negative messages rather than attacking the Linspire (or Freespire) distributions. Otherwise, I think it sows a lot of confusion, and won't achieve much." I don't think you've reviewed the threads here on this matter. The complaints have been consistent. There have been consistent counterpoints to those complaints. There has also been a consistent, noisy reaction by a few who insist on attacking their perception of complainers instead of looking at the complaints. Don't let the noise distract you from the reasonable debate. |
| tuxchick2 May 12, 2006 11:42 AM EDT |
TerryH, that's a good summation: "What's ticking you folks off is not what Linspire *is*, but rather what Linspire *claims*. I.e. it's spreading FUD about FLOSS when it tries to emphasize its "value-add"* as a means of differentiating itself." If you want to find more things to not like about their public blather, check this out: http://www.linspire.com/linspire_letter_archives.php?id=28 More two-facedness and misinformation. |
| sbergman27 May 12, 2006 11:45 AM EDT |
Terry. I agree with you. Except... why do you feel dirty when installing a non-free package? You needn't, you know. If you needed the functionality you needed it. Feeling dirty doesn't help anyone. The important thing is that you considered the alternatives and made an *INFORMED* decision. Grouch: Just to be clear, this is not a personal attack on you. It seems necessary to say that in advance. |
| tuxchick2 May 12, 2006 2:26 PM EDT |
A blindingly obvious thought occurs to me. If Linspire is competing with Windows, why do they harp incessantly on how sucky Linux is? |
| grouch May 12, 2006 2:41 PM EDT |
tuxchick2: >"TerryH, that's a good summation" I'm making an assumption here, but I think TerryH is the same who made a well-reasoned comment after the Groklaw article. It was a relief after all the garbage that had been dumped into those threads. A lot of the fire-and-forget commenters probably missed it, as it came late in the storm. See: [url=http://www.groklaw.net/comment.php?mode=display&sid=20060424164142296&title=Freespire: A Linux Distro For When You Couldn't Care Less About Freedom&type=article&order=&hideanonymous=0&pid=435256#c435283]http://www.groklaw.net/comment.php?mode=display&sid=20060424...[/url] |
| dcparris May 12, 2006 4:37 PM EDT |
> If you want to find more things to not like about their public blather, check this out: > [HYPERLINK@www.linspire.com] Looking at #4 on Carmony's list, I have to disagree vehemently with the notion that FOSS projects need to compete against non-free projects. It is true that we have features to catch up on, with respect to a number of non-free projects, but he really loses me when he says, "In other words, if open source GIMP only needs to be as good as other open source image editors, then it can stop all work right now." I don't buy that, and I doubt any other reasonably intelligent person would, either. |
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