

The Free Software Foundation's Reaction to the iPad Launch - doki_pen
http://www.fsf.org/news/ibad_launch

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pmorici
I've not looked into the details of Steve Job's letter on DRM and the eventual
droping of DRM from iTunes but this quote, "John Sullivan said, "Our Defective
by Design campaign has a successful history of targeting Apple over its DRM
policies. We organized actions and protests targeting iTunes music DRM outside
Apple stores, and under the pressure Steve Jobs dropped DRM on music." seems
like they are over stating their impact on the issue.

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jacquesm
More on the dbd protest:

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/27/defective_by_design/>

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houseabsolute
I wonder if anyone at the FSF realizes how unprofessional their iPad -> iBad
conversion and other similar slogans sound. It makes it hard to take them
seriously.

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drinian
As a FSF member, I can tell you that their entire (print!) newsletter has the
tone of a DPRK press release. Interestingly, the last actual piece that I read
by RMS was considerably more reasonable -- it concerned the licensing of
Javascript AJAX code running on your local machine.

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kaens
This is really frustrating. I'm more-or-less idealogically aligned with the
FSF, but feel like they've been doing more harm than good for a bit,
especially as far as how these ideals are perceived goes.

I think they need a nice healthy dose of pragmatism, but I can't think of an
effective way for them to get it.

This problem is common to groups of people aligned with more fringe or extreme
ideals, and it's really annoying to deal with.

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pielud
Organizing the protest, Free Software Foundation (FSF) operations manager John
Sullivan said, "Our Defective by Design campaign has a successful history of
targeting Apple over its DRM policies. We organized actions and protests
targeting iTunes music DRM outside Apple stores, and under the pressure Steve
Jobs dropped DRM on music..."

Yeah, I'm sure that's why they dropped DRM from the iTunes store.

edit: formatting.

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dangrover
This sounds incredibly snarky, but I always feel conflicted on this sort of
thing. I like free software a lot and identify philosophically with the
movement, but I also like high-quality software that actually works and is
designed for real people.

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rapind
Sounds like you're saying free software isn't quality software.

Some of the most robust, secure, and _least-surprise_ software is free.

Can't have the good without the bad.

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adatta02
And does anyone who is actually going to buy the iPad care? Of course not.

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fauigerzigerk
A better question would be whether Apple's increasingly laughable control
freakery puts any potential buyers off. I know it does because I am such a
potential buyer.

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dpcan
I don't think it does. I am a potential buyer, and I could care less about the
"openness" of the product.

I actually see it as a good thing more than bad however. With a PC, every time
I run a new program, or get an upgrade, buy a new device, etc, I never know
what to expect. With Apple, there's no question. It almost feels "safe".

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fauigerzigerk
I don't feel safe with Apple. They deleted all my music from my iPod without
asking just because I inserted it into the wrong Mac. I guess Apple fans will
be able to explain to me how this is really an ease of use feature.

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jsz0
The FSF has their own ideology they want you to follow -- Apple, specifically
Steve Jobs, has an ideology he wants you to follow. As a consumer I don't see
an OSS iPad alternative that has the same features & quality so my choice is
pretty easy. If the FSF, and others, want to promote OSS/DRM free devices they
need to step it up and offer real quality alternatives.

~~~
kprobst
Steve Jobs doesn't want you to follow an ideology. He wants you to buy his
products. Don't confuse the two things.

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juliend2
<http://i.imgur.com/nUtZK.jpg>

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rimantas
Wow, how wrong that picture is. There are lots of free applications for Mac
and iPhone (and now iPad).

iTunes has a nice way to share your library, and you can basically drag and
drop music from other computer onto yours.

"Remotely disable your apps and media" — did that happen to anyone?

In other words: FUD.

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duskwuff
_"Remotely disable your apps and media" — did that happen to anyone?_

Users who downloaded applications which Apple later pulled from the store
(e.g, NetShare) specifically reported that the app continued to work on their
phone. If Apple does have the ability to remotely disable applications and/or
media, they have made a point (so far) of not exercising it.

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wingo
Much respect for their work, but the FSF really needs to tone down the puns.
"iPad is iBad"? Really?

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va_coder
They should stop complaining and release an UbuntuPad!

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eru
Or rather a gnuPad. (Ubuntu and the FSF don't share organizational
structures.)

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CrazedGeek
Do we have any confirmation that you can't put non-iBookstore books on the
iPad?

I'm not really sure why Apple putting DRM on media they sell is an issue as
long as they also allow non-DRM'd stuff to work just as well.

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joubert
There's the Stanza app that can download Project Gutenberg books... Presumably
that will continue to work on the iPad...

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zzzmarcus
Stanza is great, there is also GoodReader for PDF's, Wattpad, Amazon's Kindle
app and the Barnes and Noble reader among others. Some of them have their own
DRM, but there is definitely still choice.

~~~
joubert
(plus Amazon now actually owns Stanza).

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alain94040
Here's where the FSF errs:

 _All media in the iTunes store (with the one exception of music) is DRM_ :
well, I'd say music is one giant exception, since that's what 90% of its users
buy from that store.

 _All applications must be signed by Apple, an unprecedented level of control
for a general purpose computer_ : that's the point, it's not meant to be a
general purpose computer, it's meant to be a device that lets you browse the
web, read books and watch movies.

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pauljonas
God bless Richard Stallman!

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jff
iPad = iBad? Have they been getting slogan advice from PETA or something?

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whalesalad
Let's not forget that Apple is revolutionizing the world. Even if their
products are bad for consumers in that they restrict with DRM, have higher
costs, use proprietary technology, etc... they are sparking a huge huge change
in the world of technology. Android is a great example of this.

This is the good ol' military industrial complex but in a consumer electronics
sense. Companies are competing and innovating, and we have to thank Apple for
much of that. In the end we are the people who will benefit, with lower cost
devies and better software. Even the carriers are attacking each other now on
prices for the best 3G network (VZW & ATT).

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UpFromTheGut
Even though I don't own any Apple products, I'm still glad they are around for
this reason. More competition in the marketplace is good for me, the consumer,
which should go without saying.

However, I'm not sure Android is a good example of your point. I think Android
had been in the works for many years before the iphone was released (see:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#Hist...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_\(operating_system\)#History)).
In fact, Apple multi-touch patents are holding it back at the moment.

