Joe Terranova

I seem to have hit a sore spot with regards to my last entry; Dave wrote a fairly scathing entry about my remarks on running Windows in qemu, and running beryl, etc. Let me take a moment to set a few things straight:

As far as running Windows in qemu, what I’m showing is that it can be done. Do I run Windows? No. Do I use any Windows applications? no. But here’s where pragmatism kicks in:

• My girlfriend needs Flash in order to do her school assignments. There is no version of Flash for linux (the editor, not the player).
• My mother needs Turbotax to do her taxes (she’s an accountant; javascript based e-file isn’t going to cut it). She needs Windows.
• etc. Are you in a WoW guild? Windows. Your company requires you use Visual Studio? Windows.

My point is this: I can afford to give up everything that won’t run in linux; most people can’t. While Wine solves some of these issues, it’s constantly one step forward and two steps back; a program might run flawlessly, but an upgrade or patch later it’ll be garbage. What I’m showing by running running Windows in qemu is that, for people that need those apps, they can run them seamlessy, and then be rid of them when they’re done. The need for dual-booting is gone. As it is, it’s a vicious cycle: companies don’t make apps for linux because they don’t think people use it; people don’t use linux because the apps they need only run on Windows. Virtualization bridges that gap, instead of leaving users high and dry.

As for beryl: yes, I’ll be running the proprietary nvidia driver — had I a system with an intel chipset, I’d use that instead. Once again, pragmatism: for many people, it’s all about the eye candy; if Ubuntu, and linux in general, can’t look as good or better than Aero, we’re left in the dust.

The goal of Ubuntu is to build a free operating system that everyone can use. Correct, Ubuntu is about humanity, and free software. It’s also about choice. Neither the proprietary video driver, nor Windows in qemu, nor proprietary wireless drivers are the default in Ubuntu, but the option is there. In fact, Feisty Fawn adds a new panel that informs you that X driver is proprietary, and requires you to enable it to use it.

Choice goes both ways. You can choose to only run open source programs, or you can choose to run proprietary ones as well; I’d argue that denying the ability to choose proprietary software is against the mission of Ubuntu. That’s not all that Ubuntu has to offer, but it is certainly part of what Ubuntu has to offer. As for your offer, you’re more than welcome to have gNewSense running on our table — as you may be aware, Mark has announced that come time for Gutsy Gibbon, they’ll be a new branch of the distro that is 100% free software, just as gNewSense is.

JoeTerranova.net  Print This Post