"The Chosen Few"

[nujinini]

Hi Everyone,

I was thinking whether to post this in the coffee lounge but since this is a wireless issue inquiry, I decided to post it here.

I replaced my Debian partition with a Mandriva and was very happy to see that the -wl was working right out of the box, I had the same experience with Mint.

In Debian, Fedora, openSUSE & PCLinuxOS, it was a different story. I am not complaining since I also enjoyed the learning process as I went through the troubles of configuring the -wl, with the help I got from this forum . I must say of the four distros I mentioned, I had the greatest challenge with openSUSE.

Can somebody please explain why the -wl runs out of the box with some seemingly "chosen few" distros and are relatively complicated to configure for others? Are there other distros that is pre-configured for its -wl to run out of the box? Would it not be possible to just make all the -wl of all distros run out of the box? Pardon my ignorance on this particular issue but I would really appreciate any enlightenment that can be shared

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: I just realized that the same also happened with the flash player, it works right out of the box.

[MikeTbob]

Hi Everyone,

I was thinking whether to post this in the coffee lounge but since this is a wireless issue inquiry, I decided to post it here.

I replaced my Debian partition with a Mandriva and was very happy to see that the -wl was working right out of the box, I had the same experience with Mint.

In Debian, Fedora, openSUSE & PCLinuxOS, it was a different story. I am not complaining since I also enjoyed the learning process as I went through the troubles of configuring the -wl, with the help I got from this forum . I must say of the four distros I mentioned, I had the greatest challenge with openSUSE.

Can somebody please explain why the -wl runs out of the box with some seemingly "chosen few" distros and are relatively complicated to configure for others? Are there other distros that is pre-configured for its -wl to run out of the box? Would it not be possible to just make all the -wl of all distros run out of the box? Pardon my ignorance on this particular issue but I would really appreciate any enlightenment that can be shared

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: I just realized that the same also happened with the flash player, it works right out of the box.

Some distros like Mint just don't seem to care or have found a loophole to where they can include most of the proprietary stuff like Wireless/Videos drivers and things like Flash, that other distros will not touch with a ten foot cane pole. I think this is why you get mixed results. It's also why I now recommend Mint for new to Linux folks.

[reed9]

As I understand, it depends on two things.

1. The laws in the country where the distro is based.
2. The "mission statement" of the distro.

Mint is based in Ireland, where, presumably, the laws allow them to distribute proprietary software with their release. However, they have a "universal" edition for download, with the proprietary software removed. According to their website, "If you're a magazine, a reseller or a distributor in Japan or in the USA then choose this edition."

Beyond that, Mint has a very relaxed attitude towards proprietary software. In an interview with Free Software Magazine, Clement Lefebvre, the founder of Mint, said

I also strongly disagree with boycotting proprietary software. This is like an “all-or-nothing” attitude. Saying that all software is bad and evil the minute its developer didn’t make it open-source is just plain ridiculous. Freedom should be granted to the developer to decide whether he wants to distribute his source code or not.

Whereas Debian and Fedora are very strict about not including non-free software in their distributions. For example, the Fedora project states on their website

Freedom represents dedication to free software and content. We believe that advancing software and content freedom is a central goal for the Fedora Project, and that we should accomplish that goal through the use of the software and content we promote. By including free alternatives to proprietary code and content, we can improve the overall state of free and open source software and content, and limit the effects of proprietary or patent encumbered code on the Project. Sometimes this goal prevents us from taking the easy way out by including proprietary or patent encumbered software in Fedora, or using those kinds of products in our other project work.

So it's not that there are a chosen few, but that different projects have different philosophies and goals, and are subject to different laws in different countries.

[nujinini]

Yes, I have been recommending Mint to friends who want to try linux also since then.

[nujinini]

Some distros like Mint just don't seem to care or have found a loophole to where they can include most of the proprietary stuff like Wireless/Videos drivers and things like Flash, that other distros will not touch with a ten foot cane pole. I think this is why you get mixed results. It's also why I now recommend Mint for new to Linux folks.

Yes. I have also started to recommend Mint to some friends who are first timers in Linux since then.

[nujinini]

As I understand, it depends on two things.

1. The laws in the country where the distro is based.
2. The "mission statement" of the distro.

Mint is based in Ireland, where, presumably, the laws allow them to distribute proprietary software with their release. However, they have a "universal" edition for download, with the proprietary software removed. According to their website, "If you're a magazine, a reseller or a distributor in Japan or in the USA then choose this edition."

Beyond that, Mint has a very relaxed attitude towards proprietary software. In an interview with Free Software Magazine, Clement Lefebvre, the founder of Mint, said

Whereas Debian and Fedora are very strict about not including non-free software in their distributions. For example, the Fedora project states on their website

So it's not that there are a chosen few, but that different projects have different philosophies and goals, and are subject to different laws in different countries.

Thank you.