On 02/19/2010 09:12 PM, Jeff Mitchell wrote:
Why is this a problem? It isn't, necessarily -- but I do worry about the implications of for-profit distributions or projects or companies getting in a habit of pushing code upstream -- or on other distributions -- with the sole purpose of earning money (as opposed to earning money by improving FOSS and creating a more salable product). It seems like a
I should mention that I know this for-profit-entity-pushing-code-upstream happens all the time -- for instance pushing drivers into the Linux kernel. And there are other examples too -- RedHat pushing *Kit for instance. But the goal with these examples is to attempt to push newer and better technologies (others might disagree as to whether technology X is better or not, but that's not really the point) into the FOSS world...with the aim also of also profiting, either through sales of now-supported devices or from having a distribution that better supports modern features and provides smoother experiences for the users. I feel like something is fundamentally different here, because the music store provides no benefit for the wider FOSS community, nor even for a particular non-profit project. One can already download Amazon MP3 music on Linux; this just makes it nominally easier, and mostly ensures that the for-profit Canonical gets a cut of the profits. It's hard to see this as enhancing the FOSS world, or what it brings to the table for other projects and distributions. That's why I'm sending this mail to you, wondering what your take on this is. I'm interested in the insights here. Thanks, Jeff