On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 03:51:18PM +0300, Kostas Boukouvalas wrote:
Neither "Linux" is mentioned on ubuntu dot com first page. I think an official direct question to Mark Shuttleworth, Jane Silber and Jono Bacon could solve the question and it could also received as a kind pressure to foster "GNU/Linux" in some FAQ. The reason, for this I think is that Ubuntu is both a trademark and a product (despite the fact of the existing community), of Canonical Ltd. and probably legal issues raise when a distro is supported by a company.
Here's what it says on Ubuntu's "philosophy" page:
"Every computer user should have the freedom to download, run, copy, distribute, study, share, change and improve their software for any purpose, without paying licensing fees."
With that in mind, I think it's wrong to say Ubuntu does not support free software principles. They do so with a twist, though, since they include the free as in beer part in the values. But that makes sense with their "for all, regardless of background" approach.
But it is true: They might credit Linux and the GNU project in a more prominent place. Even so, this page is part of the official documentation and is headlined "What is GNU/Linux?":
https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/installation-guide/i386/what-is-linux.htm
I usually advocate free software for political purposes but recommend people switch to Ubuntu because it's easy. From a software freedom perspective, having proprietary drivers is bad, but having someone swith from 100% unfree (on windows, with Office and Photoshop) to 99% free is still a step forward.
I prefer to see projects like gNewSense as frontrunners who are carving out a freedom for the rest of us which will later extend itself to more popular but not 100% free distros as Debian and Ubuntu.