Proposal: Revision of policy surrounding 3rd party and non-free software

[Bill Nottingham]

Ankur Sinha (sanjay.ankur at gmail.com) said: 
> > The context is irrelevant.  If someone does not know about free
> > software, how it works, and how they can participate to improve it,
> > then of course they are going to be willing to move to non-free
> > software.  Who isn't looking for the easiest and most pain-free way to
> > get something done?  
> 
> That's quite the point that I made in my earliest mail[1]: that this
> proposal *takes away* the step where people learn about FOSS and
> Fedora's stance on FOSS *because* they couldn't find a "one/two click"
> method of installing non-FOSS software right out of the box. 
> 
> Not having the application listed in Fedora at all makes them look
> around, and run into FOSS alternatives if they exist. If no alternatives
> are available at all, it helps them gain some understanding of why
> Fedora does not provide the non-FOSS software they require.

Is this really the right level to have this dialogue with the user, though -
when they go to install some app?

Not to put too tortured of an analogy on it, but if I walk blindly into the
restaurant down the street and order the shrimp & grits, having the staff
*then* tell me all they serve are vegan shrimp substitute, and why that's so
much better for me, my health, the planet, etc.  That may be true.  And it
may be a worthwhile conversation to have.  But I think it's probably the
wrong place in the interaction to do so.

Bill