[gNewSense-users] re: I decided to abandon gNewSense

[Brian Kemp]

I think Sam got it right.

Patrick's experiences should be a motivator to us that if Free
Software is really going to be for *everyone*, we have a long way to
go. We must all do what we can, and document what is not going to be
possible without manufacturer co-operation (encrypted media).

There's a lot of people in other places that want to restrict our
Freedom, for whatever reason. I'm fairly sure Netflix uses DRM'd WMV
files. As for MLB.com...the machine I was going to use to get the
setup working for Patrick has a bum drive controller so I never could
install gNS. :(

Patrick's decision is his own. Free Software also means he is Free to
stop using it if he so chooses. While we may not like that, Patrick is
the only one who really decides what his needs are. If gNS doesn't
suit his needs, we need to examine his needs and put them into three
categories:

[0] What we can solve on our own as a community,
[1] What we can't solve without cooperation from a third party who's
willing to help (upstream)
[2] What we can't solve without cooperation from a third party who's
not willing to help

The suggestion to get a later version of gnash built and packaged
(somewhat like Ali Gunduz' Freedom Shoppe does for the Kernel) is a
great example of [0].

Usability of partitioners and the like is an example of [1].

Netflix is an example of [2].