#57: Seeking Council feedback/input on draft third party software policy
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Reporter: pfrields | Owner:
Status: new | Priority: normal
Component: General | Resolution:
Keywords: workstation |
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Comment (by aday):
Replying to [comment:31 jwboyer]:
Replying to [comment:13 mattdm]:
> Thanks. With minor re-rewording:
>
> mattdm proposal part 2:
>
> The Council recognizes including select third-party non-free
software in
search results as a valid experiment in advancing Fedora's
mission. Search results should prioritize free and open source software,
clearly specify that there is no endorsement, and offer links to Fedora-
prepared educational information. Additionally, default configuration in
Fedora Editions and Spins must not show non-free search results initially
without an additional user interface action. This action need not be
onerous, can be persistent, and the interface can indicate that these non-
free results are available upon action.
To be honest, I'm not convinced the additional educational information
requirement is worthwhile. If this was 10 years ago, I would whole-
heartedly agree. Today though, I think it would come off as preachy and
dated. The only situation I can think of where a user might be using
Fedora and NOT know about open source in general are student lab or
employer supplied machines where they (or someone close to them) didn't do
the install themselves. I understand the material would be in line with
our Mission, so I'm not opposed to it per se. I think if we're going to
include it, it should be presented on the initial "show non-free results"
option though. NOT for every search result. That seems like a quick way
to irritate people.
And that detail seems to highlight a specific problem with the currently
worded
proposal. Despite best intentions, it is very implementation
oriented. That is further affirmed by the entire rest of this ticket
discussion.
It might be better to simply state it as:
"The Council recognizes including selected third-party non-free software
in
search results as a valid experiment in advancing Fedora's mission.
Search results for non-free software may not be presented without explicit
user enablement in any Fedora Edition or Spin."
...
Again, this policy is about more than search: there are other ways that
software is presented and can be discovered. For example you could
rephrase to something like:
"The Council recognizes that allowing selected third-party non-free
software to be installed is a valid experiment in advancing Fedora's
mission. Non-free software may not be presented to the user without
explicit user enablement in any Fedora Edition or Spin."
--
Ticket URL: <
https://fedorahosted.org/council/ticket/57#comment:33>
council <
https://fedorahosted.org/council>
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