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What The High-Priority Free Software Projects Should Be?
The Free Software Foundation has been heavily promoting their list of high priority free software projects. Given that the list comes from the Free Software Foundation, I understand why the projects that were chosen are on the list, but if I was making a list of high-priority projects, mine would not look like the FSF’s.
The FSF list includes a number of places where good proprietary software exists for Linux, but there are no good free software alternatives. These free software replacements are important, but I consider it more important to improve free software in cases where there are no good alternatives for Linux, even if those applications are not as commonly used.
The key difference here is that the goal should be trying to get more people to run a free operating system, possibly while using some proprietary software on top of the OS, rather than trying to get existing Linux users to use more free software.
So given this view, what would be on the high priority list? Linux still lacks good video editing software, despite a number of projects already existing. People argue about how good the professional photography software is, but I think there is widespread agreement that it needs improvement. Just improving compatibility between Open Office and Office would be a big deal, too. These are things where there is no great alternative on the Linux desktop, free or propriatary. In the end, I would rather see these things worked on.
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Currently the highest priority should be video editing, having used all major computing platforms, i can say that only Apple has got this working perfectly with iMovie, therefore id suggest the need to make something identical.
Then there’s always the smaller things like Autocad (CAD) and Rosetta Stone (Languages), which also don’t have comparable alternatives on linux. But as far as must-have everyday software goes, linux need a iMovie clone! Id say the professional video editing is already taken care of, the average joe needs something too.
Actually, sorry if I didn’t make my self clear, but I was not trying to suggest the FSF should change. I understand why the FSF choose what they did, but I would have chosen different projects.
As for weasel words, “People argue” is prime, wikipedia-ish example. “the goal should be” is another example.
Anyway, my main point was missed from my previous post. You are trying to say, that the goals of Free Software Foundation should be changed. Well, the goal of FSF is to create fully libre operating system; that means, every binary blob should be eradicated from the OS in the end. I don’t think it’s a good idea to say, we should digress from this ultimate goal for the temporary benefit of more users. Don’t worry, they will come.
As for Cinelerra, yes, the user interface is quite difficult to handle. It took me about 8 hours to manage very easy tasks (I was cutting my home-made video, 40 minutes of material + 160 pictures) such as volume, fade in, fade out. Though, it’s like Blender; the UI needs to get mastered, after that, you are virtually free to do anything (except the occasional crashes). With Cinelerra, you also NEED to run amd64 platform, otherwise it just doesn’t work well (so says HeroineWarrior).
If you need something movie-maker-ish (I have been using Ulead Video Studio under Windoze, and I did see Pinnacle in action), yes, I have to admit, that the possibilities of mid-range video-editing, involving “cut here, mix this sound here” are pretty limited. I would like to suggest Kino to you, but I am not using it, since it doesn’t fit my needs.
I was disappointed that free drivers / hardware compatibility was not at the top of the FSF list. For GNU/Linux laptop users, graphic cards with 3d acceleration and WiFi are still a big pain and should “just work”. Personally, I think compatibility with propiretary software and ways to painlessly run the things you are used to from a windows environment (games or whatnot) that are not available for GNU/Linux is a good “transition solution” and I greatly respect and appreciate the work done by the WINE guys.
Vadim P. – Yep. I agree.
PeterKraus – Sorry about the source. I forgot to include a link. That should be fixed now. I am not sure exactly what you mean by weasel words, but if you would like to explain, I am definitely open to criticism.
As for Cinelerra, this is all I am going to say: Last time I tried to edit video on Linux (simple, low-def video by the way), I spend hours messing around with many applications (Cinelerra included). After being unable to get through the entire editing process (dealing with about 5 minutes of footage), much less save before having the best of the bunch (which might actually have been Cinelerra, I don’t remember) crash, I moved the video to a Mac and used built-in software to do the job in a short amount of time. Granted, the computer in question was not the fastest, but you are the first person I have heard claiming that video editing on Linux is OK. That does not mean your wrong, but my experience has not been very good.
I would like to give it another try soon on a more powerful machine.
A promising non-power user friendly video (and/or audio) editor, WINE, and a system that allows you to make 1 package for .debs, .rpms, and whatnot (no, PackageKit doesn’t do this apparently, so that is full of fail).
It’s sad to see the quality of this blog going down recently. No links to sources, weasel words, and no research done on the subject (Cinelerra, anyone?).
Why should Free Software Foundation care about “being compatible” with pile of proprietary code, instead of developing new features?
In the end, I would rather see my system completely free-software.
FSF member,
Peter Kraus