J_K9 @ Linux

Alleluya! Ubuntu To Include Extra Drivers

It looks like the Ubuntu team has been listening to the community: Ubuntu has decided to ship some proprietary drivers with their next release, Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn.

There are problems with this, such as the possibility of a violation of the GPL and the general immorality of using closed source drivers in an open source OS, as well as a host of practicality issues such as the simple technical problems that support for the drivers is completely dependent on the hardware vendor.” However, this is a huge leap forward for Linux (in my eyes): I do not like closed source drivers, but I do recognise the fact that they are the only good solutions we have at the moment and so they are fine as a short-term improvement to the situation. As I expressed in my previous post on this topic, there are many graphics, sound and wireless drivers which are closed source but without which the OS is too impractical to use as either a home or office OS.

I am extremely glad that Ubuntu has made this step. I don’t think this is encouraging closed source software at all - the Ubuntu team are just doing their best to provide the best end-user experience possible, and that means that it must include closed source drivers at this stage in Linux’s development, then so be it. They may have gone a bit too far by offering the drivers during the installation from the CD itself rather than educating the user and asking them whether they want to download the drivers, but I still respect their decision. This is an incredibly bold move.

Who knows - I might just be able to get past the splash screen when I try to install Ubuntu 7.04