hplip: hp-toolbox advertising?

[Arthur Pemberton]

On 3/28/07, Alfredo Ferrari <list at pceet030.cern.ch> wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Mar 2007, Simo Sorce wrote:
>
> >
> > Bernard,
> > I can't agree more with what you said, this discussion is silly, it
> > start reminding me some of the more brain-damaged discussions on Debian
> > lists. I hope it is an isolate incident, and is not becoming the norm or
> > next we will declare that Trademarks, documentation, and just everything
> > in the world is software and any license but the GPL is bad.
> >
> > Don't get me wrong, I love the GPL, it is the license I use for my
> > software, but _software_ is the key here. Names, logos, documentation
> > are a different matter. Please let's not get stupid and let's recognize
> > things from what they are.
> >
> > Trademarks, are not good or bad by themselves, it is the use you do of
> > them that can be good or bad. HP's trademark/logo in hp-toolbox is on
> > the side of the "good" way much more than what is the Mozilla's Firefox
> > trademark/logo.
> >
> > On Tue, 2007-03-27 at 19:04 -0600, Bernard Johnson wrote:
> >> All the "free software zealots" say to vote with your pocketbook.  I
> >> did.  I bought a $1000 SOHO printer BECAUSE THEY HAD LINUX SUPPORT.  And
> >> not just a blob, real GPL software.  Now I hear total bogus arguments
> >> like "it's advertising" [but don't look at these other things that are
> >> advertising as well that we will let slide] or "yeah, it's free but it's
> >> not good enough"[2][3].
> >
> > HP People didn't attach any string to the use of that logo for that
> > software, so any discussion about removing it, is just plain silly, IMO.
> >
> > We are beyond "free software zealots" we reached the point of "berserk
> > kamikaze zealots" if we actually go down this road.
> >
> >> This is exactly the attitude that will cause Linux to not get any
> >> support by vendors.
> >
> > Wise words. We need more software not less, there is still a *LOT* of
> > software niches that have no sort of free software of any kind, and
> > pretty big ones.
> >
> > And people here waste time arguing by a trademarked logo in a GPL
> > package that comes with no sort of requirements? Are you insane? Or
> > what?
> >
> >> The fact of the matter is that it takes vendor support to make
> >> Fedora/RedHat anything other than a toy operating system for many uses.
> >>  At many junctures, we have to make conscious trade offs between
> >> idealogical beliefs and functionality.  That trade off may be a little
> >> recognition of the hard work that someone / some company put into the
> >> software, and I say that's great, give it to them.
> >
> > If only this little "advertising" could be used to make more companies
> > write and distribute GPL software I would ask for MORE of this kind
> > advertising, that would be just great.
> >
> > On the software quality I would really avoid commenting, we have such
> > crap in free software that complaining about the quality of *useful*
> > *free software* is beyond my comprehension. When the people that don't
> > like it, will rewrite and support a better piece of software to cover
> > the same functionality, then they will be entitled to speak about
> > removing others software.
> >
> > Please, I beg you try to use your head and think:
> >
> > a) what is the right thing to do to help users (NOW, not "in 10 years
> > maybe") with *free software*
> > b) what is the right thing to do to spread more *free software*
> > c) what is the right way to get more vendors to help us with *free
> > software*
> > d) what is the right thing to do to avoid waisting time and produce more
> > *free software*
> >
> > To me the answers are pretty clear wrt this case.
> >
> > Simo.
> >
> >
>
> I can't agree more with Bernard and Simo. Rampant masochism is the real
> enemy of free software.
>
>                Alfredo
>
> BTW I bought a multifunction HP printer/scanner/fax etc JUST BECAUSE
>      it was fully and freely supported in Linux...
>

Me too, I had no idea there was such apparent hatred of the solution.

-- 
Fedora Core 6 and proud