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I used Ubuntu and promoted it like crazy. Until i realized it's pernicious to open software. Too many compromises. binary drivers everywhere. Now this. The Ubun

by gcb 14y ago

I used Ubuntu and promoted it like crazy. Until i realized it's pernicious to open software. Too many compromises. binary drivers everywhere. Now this. The Ubuntu moved gnome3 crap that led to the least community driven direction a project ever took. Heck and i always seen gpl extremists as crazy and release all my code under mit... And even so i refuse to use Ubuntu anymore.

sliverstorm 14y ago
Sounds like you're a Debian sort of guy, then. That's fine- but, understand that the reason Ubuntu is at the forefront of "Linux on the desktop" is because of its willingness to compromise. You can never have everything; Ubuntu cares more about things that lead to adoption (i.e. usability), Debian cares more about purity.
- iso8859-1 14y ago
  I doubt that Ubuntu is "the forefront of 'Linux on the Desktop'" because it is willing to compromise and use binary blobs and the like. The reason is that there is a proper organization that people trust and understand behind it (Canonical). People with incentives, money and ads. Idealism has little to do with it. Granted, Ubuntu would be a bit less popular if they were as pure, but I don't think it makes much of a difference in the end.
  - sliverstorm 14y ago
    I beg to differ. It's surely not the only reason, but I remember back around 5.10, there were a lot of people observing how much they liked things like the easy install of binary graphics or WiFi drivers, for example.
  - geofft 14y ago
    Really? I have plenty of hardware that simply will not work at all without the binary blobs -- no graphics, no network connection, etc. I've tried installing Debian on some of my machines, only to find that it doesn't boot and I need to install Ubuntu instead. Ubuntu wouldn't lose on mere "popularity" by being less pragmatic, they'd lose on hardware compatibility. It's pretty easy for a technical user who knows they want Linux to find hardware well-supported on Linux before they buy it, but the average user will come with a computer already purchased, and ask if Ubuntu works on their computer.
- gcb 14y ago
  uh... everything* that ever shows up at ubuntu passed by my machine running debian sid. how is that leading adoption? * excluding unity

by gcb 14y ago

sliverstorm 14y ago

Sounds like you're a Debian sort of guy, then. That's fine- but, understand that the reason Ubuntu is at the forefront of "Linux on the desktop" is because of its willingness to compromise. You can never have everything; Ubuntu cares more about things that lead to adoption (i.e. usability), Debian cares more about purity.

iso8859-1 14y ago
I doubt that Ubuntu is "the forefront of 'Linux on the Desktop'" because it is willing to compromise and use binary blobs and the like. The reason is that there is a proper organization that people trust and understand behind it (Canonical). People with incentives, money and ads. Idealism has little to do with it. Granted, Ubuntu would be a bit less popular if they were as pure, but I don't think it makes much of a difference in the end.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  I beg to differ. It's surely not the only reason, but I remember back around 5.10, there were a lot of people observing how much they liked things like the easy install of binary graphics or WiFi drivers, for example.
- geofft 14y ago
  Really? I have plenty of hardware that simply will not work at all without the binary blobs -- no graphics, no network connection, etc. I've tried installing Debian on some of my machines, only to find that it doesn't boot and I need to install Ubuntu instead. Ubuntu wouldn't lose on mere "popularity" by being less pragmatic, they'd lose on hardware compatibility. It's pretty easy for a technical user who knows they want Linux to find hardware well-supported on Linux before they buy it, but the average user will come with a computer already purchased, and ask if Ubuntu works on their computer.
gcb 14y ago
uh... everything* that ever shows up at ubuntu passed by my machine running debian sid. how is that leading adoption? * excluding unity