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Re: [LUG] getgnulinux.org

 

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 08:09:12 +0100
"Clare Shepherd" <clareshepherd37@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Don't we have enough opposing forces without
> friction within the faithful. Maybe off list would be an option? or
> posssibly at an informal meeting. I hope I haven't overstepped the
> mark, or offended anyone BTW. if Ubuntu is frowned upon, what is
> suggested for newbies?. Clare

The majority of DCGLUG have no problem recommending Ubuntu to newbies.
It's a very usable distribution and you don't have to use the
proprietary code if you don't need to. Go ahead with Ubuntu, get used to
it, start to understand how it works. You can always choose to migrate
to a different distribution in due course (I can't help but offer
Debian there but that's just because I'm biased). Personally, I have
long recommended Ubuntu to anyone with an aversion to XP/Vista and will
continue to do so. I'm working now on a replacement for WinCE on
embedded devices so that we can take Debian around in our hands.

(I don't trust 'Microvell' (the MS/Novell combo) mainly because I don't
see how such an unequal 'partnership' can help Novell. Novell aren't a
small company but compared to MS? It's like a mouse partnering a
giraffe for a new reality show: 'Dancing on Patents'. MS: "Oops, what
was that we just stepped on (in)? Sorry, Novell." Yeah, right.)

(Can someone with an artistic bent *please* make that into a picture? I
think it would be very funny! Sad, I know) :-)

The only person, AFAIK, who frowned on promoting Ubuntu has
voluntarily left the DCGLUG mailing list since the thread ended, sadly.

In the words of the Debian project: 'We don't hide problems.' Just
because the list does not always speak with a single voice, does not
mean that there is a need to split the list or the group. Sometimes
debates overstep the mark but generally, disagreements are to be
expected in all open groups. We have our share. :-)

Richard Stallman (generally known as 'RMS') may appear god-like to some
(note lower case 'g'), but neither GNU nor Linux have a single voice.
RMS and Linus (Torvalds) are powerful and influential as contributors
and figureheads but they do not speak for everyone. I like RMS, I value
his contribution and continued activity immensely but I don't always
agree with everything he says. I tend to agree more with RMS than with
Linus but, hey, that's OK.

(Yes, I know, I could have mentioned Alan Cox, Larry Wall, Bruce
Perens, Eric S. Raymond and a host of others - FL/OSS has a panoply of
figureheads. Pick one for yourself.)

--

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

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