But won Freespire hurt the momentum of open source by offering the option of proprietary codecs, drivers and applications?
No, quite the opposite. To influence the future of computing to become more open, Linux must first expand its circle of influence by gaining a much larger user base. A big portion of the world is turned off by Linux, because it doesn’t legally support things like MP3, DVD, Java, Flash, Windows Media, QuickTime, etc., out of the box. Asking millions of people to throw away their iPods (or other favorite MP3 player) or to not legally watch DVDs on their computer, is just too much to ask for most users. The Freespire project believes in providing a free marketplace where the user can decide what software to install and use. There are two approaches to promoting open source software: 1) avoid any use of existing non-free software, or 2) use some non-free software while free alternatives are being developed. The danger in the first approach is that people will not adopt the solution. The danger in the second approach is that free alternatives will not be developed fast enough because the pr
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