Since when is Dell Gutsy Gibbon not Ubuntu?

By Stan Beer
Thursday, 20 December 2007 15:19

Opinion and Analysis

The news that Dell has now released Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) on its boxes (and about time too!) has been tempered somewhat by a potential storm of controversy caused by a couple of software packages that come bundled with the Dell Linux PCs. The two bundled packages happen to be proprietary software. Is this going to be a problem?

The two packages in question are Adobe's Flash plugin and InterVideo's LinDVD player. For Linux and open source purists, the Flash plugin should present no problem (although I'll take advice on that) because it's software that anyone running Ubuntu can download for free. I did it myself the first time I accessed YouTube to watch a video.

However, LinDVD is not free and therefore presents a philosophical problem for those who would not have the name of Ubuntu sullied through association with a proprietary software bundle.

In a blog written by regular iTWire comments poster Limulus, titled "Dell: one step forward, two steps back", Limulus writes:

"While its one thing if Dell wants to preload flashplugin-nonfree (which still is clearly NOT in the ‘spirit of Ubuntu‘), I am much more concerned by the fact that they’re using LinDVD to play a restricted format, as its not available in Ubuntu’s repositories (contrast with a case like MP3 support via gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3). The LinDVD page says “LinDVD, InterVideo’s Linux software DVD player, is currently available only to manufacturers for evaluation and integration.” Is this only legally available to Dell owners then?

"It looks like Dell wants to create a DellOS distro based on Ubuntu with various of proprietary things in the mix (ala Linspire) to help sell their computers. There’s nothing stopping them from doing that, but is it really fair for Dell to be calling this “Ubuntu” though?"

I fully understand where Limulus is coming from. However, having run into the problem of trying to install DVD playback on Ubuntu myself, I can also appreciate Dell's point of view. CONTINUED