UDS Karmic Group Photo, by Kenneth Wimer
ANYONE who wishes to fork a GNU/Linux distribution can do just that, provided the GPL is obeyed and trademark law too. That's the power of Free software. Some people conflate that with democracy, which is an entirely different -- if not a Utopian -- view of the world where everyone is said to be perfectly happy based on consensus (an impossibility). In some sense, "democracy" is just a word that people like to say.
On 15/03/10 23:42, Pablo Quirós wrote: > It'd have been nice if this comment had been made > some time ago, > together with a deep reasoning on the > concrete changes that are in mind. > > We are supposed to be a community, > we all use Ubuntu and contribute to > it, and we deserve some respect regarding > these kind of decisions. We > all make Ubuntu together, or is it a big lie?
We all make Ubuntu, but we do not all make all of it. In other words, we delegate well. We have a kernel team, and they make kernel decisions. You don't get to make kernel decisions unless you're in that kernel team. You can file bugs and comment, and engage, but you don't get to second-guess their decisions. We have a security team. They get to make decisions about security. You don't get to see a lot of what they see unless you're on that team. We have processes to help make sure we're doing a good job of delegation, but being an open community is not the same as saying everybody has a say in everything.
This is a difference between Ubuntu and several other community distributions. It may feel less democratic, but it's more meritocratic, and most importantly it means (a) we should have the best people making any given decision, and (b) it's worth investing your time to become the best person to make certain decisions, because you should have that competence recognised and rewarded with the freedom to make hard decisions and not get second-guessed all the time.
It's fair comment that this was a big change, and landed without warning. There aren't any good reasons for that, but it's also true that no amount of warning would produce consensus about a decision like this.
> If you want to tell us > that we are all part of it, we want information, > and we want our opinion > to be decisive.
No. This is not a democracy. Good feedback, good data, are welcome. But we are not voting on design decisions.
Mark
Ubuntu One Music Store: Tops or Flop?
Music seems to be a viable income stream also under Linux. After Amarok and Rhythmbox have earned at least a few hundred bucks with Magnatune, Ubuntu is now breaking into the market as well.
Early in Lucid's development cycle, the Ubuntu Development Summit announced that The GIMP would be dropped from the default selection of software installed. Since The GIMP is widely considered an example of excellence in free software, the announcement created some controversy, but the decision was in keeping with Ubuntu's general priorities. Not only does The GIMP take up considerable space on a CD, but, more importantly, its features far exceed what beginning users could need.
Comments
Agent_Smith
2010-03-20 15:05:25
Enough said...
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-20 16:18:09
Agent_Smith
2010-03-20 17:30:52
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-20 17:46:01
satipera
2010-03-19 19:08:16
I think their design team should be left alone to do their work. But for some things although Canonical can they should not be saying Just leave it to us we know best and anyway it is not a democracy. It is the second time I have heard the phrase "not a democracy" from Canonical the last was about 18 months ago. I hope that it is not a sign that a more defensive and dismissive mind set has taken hold. They should be careful of the language they use, the last thing we want is for a them and us mentality to develop.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-19 19:41:45
Agent_Smith
2010-03-20 17:53:25
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-20 18:05:20
Agent_Smith
2010-03-20 18:11:07
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-20 18:35:20
your_friend
2010-03-21 05:22:09
Dropping GIMP creates two impressions of elitism. On the Ubuntu side, this is an insult to general users who are categorized as too stupid to use anything more complex than paint.net. The message is, "trust us we know what's good for you." The other impression of elitism is that the authors of GIMP do not listen to users and therefore GIMP is too complex for normal users. The first impression is true but the second one is false. GIMP is no more complex or difficult to use than a general purpose image manipulation tool should be. Part of the excellence of GIMP is the general layout and interface efficiency. While it's nice to include more limited or task specific tools in a default install, it is insulting to tell users they are too stupid for a tool they have all said they want to keep. This is a bad sign, and a general flaw of the Gnome community - an insulting oversimplification that hampers user choice and efficiency. Ubuntu should at least offer the user choices while installing. The first choice is the one they have now, "trust us, we know what's good for you." The other choices would be the ones users clamor for.
The Debian community's net install solves these problems by offering users choices up front. They do this at the expense of image based install.
It would be trivial Ubuntu to include an "extras" install step, where high demand options can be chosen from a menu and installed from repositories. The choices don't have to be any more complex than Debian's "advanced" install options that allow the installation of alternate desktops.
The bigger issue is mono and Bing inclusion. This is neither a democracy a meritocracy issue, it is simple incompetence and corruption. Everyone is telling them it's a mistake but they insist on doing it because they think they are so clever because they now have big, smart computer professionals from Microsoft and Novell on staff. They might as well ask Steve Ballmer how to commit corporate suicide and start calling users "whiners and complainers".
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-21 08:02:34
verofakto
2010-03-21 09:39:37
source.
your_friend
2010-03-22 03:58:54
Well of course Canonical is doing Bing search for money, that's the point of selling out, but a little money won't make it a good decision. People who tell you that selling out to Microsoft is a good idea are fools or people who want Microsoft to stay alive. The Bing choice is incompetence for both technical and political reasons. It's inferior and it will do more FUD harm to Canonical's bottom line than Microsoft will pay. Deals with Microsoft always go this way and are always a mistake. The more a company deals with Microsoft, the worse of they are. Just talking to Microsoft is a waste of time that can only lead to corruption. It's better to do honest business and let Microsoft waste away.
satipera
2010-03-19 16:59:47
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-19 17:14:35
satipera
2010-03-19 17:47:50
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2010-03-19 18:24:56
linuxcanuck
2010-03-22 14:39:44
Kubuntu is Mono free. I can pick and choose which GNOME apps to install. I no longer have to install Mono and then remove it which salves the conscience.
I can see why people are leaving Ubuntu. As a Kubuntu user I know what it is like to be the unwanted child, but it isn't so bad. At least they leave you alone.
I could go to another distribution altogether. I use several others, but that would desert the users in whom I still care. A distribution is more than a bunch of packages. I still believe in community, even if Shuttle worth does not.