Kubuntu annoyances (check list)

[Edulix]

Hello, this is my view on the subject:

I don't like restricted formats or software. But unfortunately I have to live 
with them and many potential linux users too.

I'm sure many of you have used Firefox in Windows and had to install 
Macromedia Flash player (*1). Did you see how EASY was it ? I'll describe the 
process:

1. We'll asume for the purposes of this message that you have Firefox 
installed and running in Windows, and now you're visiting a webpage that uses 
Flash but you don't have any plugin installed.

2. A small notice in the top of the browser tells you that it couldn't play a 
Flash animation because you haven't got any player installed, and gives you a 
button to solve it.

3. A easy to use Installation Wizzard tells you about the available player in 
the net (it retrieves the list from mozilla.org). 

4. If you select the only one available, which is Macromedia Flash Player, the 
propietary license is shown and let's you either accept it or not. 

5. If you accepted, clicking in Next will install it and once it's installed 
the webpage shows wonderfully the flash animations, without even needing to 
reload the page nor restart firefox!

My take is that the same should happen in (K)ubuntu when trying to play a file 
in a propietary format. Add to the wizzard all the warnings and alerts 
telling the user that the software being installed is NOT free/open/libre, 
but in the end give the user the choice to install it easily, because freddom 
through obscurity is not freedom.

I also enjoy and find educational the current howto-driven way to install the 
propietary support for MP3/WMV/WMA/RM/DVD/Flash/Java support, but in the same 
way I also enjoyed and found educational my time with gentoo. I learned a lot 
about linux there. But my grandma would certainly not enjoy the experience, 
because she only wants to play the video of her granddaughter's birthday to 
wich she couldn't assist yesterday because she lives too far away. If I asked 
her, I'm sure she doesn't want to bother reading howtos that besides are not 
easily found in Spanish ;-)

that's my point of view at the matter, an opinion from another happy kubuntu 
user who just wants to make kubuntu better and better

Thanks for your time,
          Edulix.

PD: Of course, in the wizzard the user might be asked for its own password to 
install the software system wide if it has sudo permissions for doing so, 
which AFAIK doesn't happen in Firefox-Windows ;-). Otherwise it could 
download & install it only for itself.

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(*1) which the only propietary implementation at the moment for the latests 
version of their *open* flash format