Re: Core values

[Alan Cox <alan redhat com>]

On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 03:30:08PM -0500, Eric S. Raymond wrote:
> This is so out of contact with reality that it makes me grind my teeth.

Eric I think you lost the plot, actually I don't think you ever got the plot
in the first place but that is another story

> Want to fix or scrap the damned patent system? Want to get the damned
> DMCA repealed?  Do you want even as little a thing as 3D graphics and
> wireless cards with open specs?

I spend material amounts of time with people like politicians. They don't
care about 30% market share, they care (on the whole) about doing the right
thing and where there isn't an easy answer picking a path that doesn't result
in chaos.

> need market share over 50%.  We need politicians and vendors to fear
> our wrath.

Ah yes its the gun/power thing again. "Me got big gun, me scary", which usually
results in "me dead". You don't win hearts and minds by being scary and violent
(see Iraq for a worked example).

> It wasn't 'sacrificing our core values' to ship a binary Netscape
> blob until Mozilla was ready. It won't be sacrificing our core values

The real free distributions didn't ship binary netscape blobs.

> to ship proprietary codecs until we are positioned to crush them out
> of existence.

There is a much easier way to work with these people. You support those
who open source stuff (eg intel video), you ignore those who won't (eg AMD
bugs get a lot less time nowdays and will continue to do so until ATI grow up)

For proprietary codecs its up to end users if they want to install them, yum
provides a mechanism for anyone on the planet to distribute new repositories
not just livna and friends. You've got a nice level playing field and a 
business opportunity. The moment Fedora includes non-free stuff it becomes
a problem for all the people who redistribute and respin it, and it becomes
unfair in the proprietary world in the eyes of everyone who didn't get 
included.

Alan