"Including Adobe Air and Flash in their repository is really disheartening, but so is UbuntuOne."
I have never tried UbuntuOne...but if you want to reach more than geeks you have to have an easy way for Joe and Jane Public to get at those. Otherwise, you have lost.
Correct, but we also must have ethics. If we throw those out with the trash, then we've lost a helluva lot more than money. I'm not against someone installing Adobe Air on their Ubuntu machine (that's their business.) But when we start encouraging people, and go out of our way to encourage people to use proprietary software, then that's not just a free boost for the company that owns the software, but it's also a step backwards to the days of no alternatives or free software.
And this is exactly one of the main problems of 'free software' as an ideology. It is black & white, as if people who advocate some proprietary software are unethical. Many people in society will agree that programmers should be compensated for their work, and for many types of programs it is nearly impossible to get compensation via support. So, even if you do like free software, it is entirely reasonable to buy proprietary software.
Then there is the issue of practicality. I would love to do all my workflows using free software, but for some workflows it is just not possible. E.g. I tried using Digikam, The Gimp, and Scribus a lot. But for me, they just don't match up against Lightroom/Aperture, Photoshop, or InDesign. Am I acting unethical for using tools to get my work done?
Nowadays, I use the Apache License when possible, because I have got pretty sick of all the preaching, and claims for moral higher ground.
And in the same token, promotion (or helping, making available, whatever) of proprietary software can turn people away from free software. Either way, however, it's a matter of opinion.
BTW, it's not about making sure rms doesn't get pissed off. Instead, it's about how we can make sure big software companies don't try and "buy" (I use that word very loosely) us, or our users, out
If GNU ever finishes Hurd, it'll really be humorous to MS, Apple, et al., since 90% of our time will be spent arguing "No! Linux is better!" "No! GNU!" and so on. I hope in-fighting won't be free software's demise.
I completely understand where you're coming from on this. I think the fight for free software is important but in this argument I take the realistic side. I feel like spreading a "free" environment where the backbone and majority of what you use is free/libre we can bring it to the masses. Without popularity for GNU/Linux, the libre versions of the tools in question (most often graphics drivers and media codecs) are not likely to ever make ample ground on the proprietary version.
Sad, but so true. Perhaps one day those companies will listen to the free software movement and take it seriously. In the meantime, we need to take care that FOSS doesn't kill itself with in-fighting. We've got to find a middle-ground of agreement.
It doesn't even work for geeks. I want a platform that just works. I have the exact same issue with iOS. The first time I watched a vimeo link from facebook on my Android phone it was eye-opening. Finally everything 'just worked'.
I have never tried UbuntuOne...but if you want to reach more than geeks you have to have an easy way for Joe and Jane Public to get at those. Otherwise, you have lost.