Comments on: A reminder of Linux’s failure to launch http://galaxycow.com/blogs/vermyndax/2007/09/24/a-reminder-of-linuxs-failure-to-launch/ Don't let serenity fool you. Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:44:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Vermyndax http://galaxycow.com/blogs/vermyndax/2007/09/24/a-reminder-of-linuxs-failure-to-launch/#comment-108 Vermyndax Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:41:18 +0000 http://galaxycow.com/blogs/vermyndax/2007/09/24/a-reminder-of-linuxs-failure-to-launch/#comment-108 I actually used automatix2 to get my stepfather out of this situation. It worked beautifully, although I'm aware of the possible borkage that it can do to ubuntu. As for licensing... part of the annoyance that is Linux is the whole licensing mess. I understand most of it is not the *fault* of Linux developers, but they should at least get some folks in line to work to solve the problem. All too often when a Linux distro or developer runs up against a licensing restriction of some kind, they simply throw the work away or work around it in an unacceptable fashion (in terms of usability). They need to step up and work with the licensing party and come to terms with it. That's probably what Novell had in mind when they first approached Microsoft and they were subsequently roasted for it. That kind of attitude will keep Linux on the down low. I actually used automatix2 to get my stepfather out of this situation. It worked beautifully, although I’m aware of the possible borkage that it can do to ubuntu.

As for licensing… part of the annoyance that is Linux is the whole licensing mess. I understand most of it is not the *fault* of Linux developers, but they should at least get some folks in line to work to solve the problem. All too often when a Linux distro or developer runs up against a licensing restriction of some kind, they simply throw the work away or work around it in an unacceptable fashion (in terms of usability). They need to step up and work with the licensing party and come to terms with it.

That’s probably what Novell had in mind when they first approached Microsoft and they were subsequently roasted for it. That kind of attitude will keep Linux on the down low.

]]> By: aquatix http://galaxycow.com/blogs/vermyndax/2007/09/24/a-reminder-of-linuxs-failure-to-launch/#comment-107 aquatix Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:24:33 +0000 http://galaxycow.com/blogs/vermyndax/2007/09/24/a-reminder-of-linuxs-failure-to-launch/#comment-107 Well, the fact that a lot of those codecs are decidedly non-free doesn't help either. Distro's can't easily distribute them because that's simply forbidden by the licenses. On the other hand, Flash 9 is easily apt-gettable through Synaptic or whatever user-friendly program you want to use. As is gxine with its Firefox plugin, and Totem with its plugin [I don't know enough about KDE's tools]. Then the only job is to get the win32codecs pack and put them in the right dir [one big pile of them]. That's easily scriptable, or can be done with a simple GUI program. Automatix used to be such a program, IIRC. So, it's not just the Linux community. I recently read that the Totem media player has support for automatically look for the right codec through the distribution's package management system. I'd say that's quite a step forward already [and a lot better than the useless never-finding-the-right-codec windows media player implementation]. Well, the fact that a lot of those codecs are decidedly non-free doesn’t help either. Distro’s can’t easily distribute them because that’s simply forbidden by the licenses.

On the other hand, Flash 9 is easily apt-gettable through Synaptic or whatever user-friendly program you want to use. As is gxine with its Firefox plugin, and Totem with its plugin [I don't know enough about KDE's tools]. Then the only job is to get the win32codecs pack and put them in the right dir [one big pile of them]. That’s easily scriptable, or can be done with a simple GUI program. Automatix used to be such a program, IIRC.

So, it’s not just the Linux community. I recently read that the Totem media player has support for automatically look for the right codec through the distribution’s package management system. I’d say that’s quite a step forward already [and a lot better than the useless never-finding-the-right-codec windows media player implementation].

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