Comments on: Software Freedom as explained by Stephen Fry

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:04:43 +0000

Upgrades are absolutely free, Ubuntu is Free as in Freedom and Free as in no cost. In fact there are four fundamental freedoms
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
http://www.ubuntu.com/community/ubuntustory/philosophy

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:58:35 +0000

does the linux operating system update to newest version for free? i.e with windows it might come with xp but to up grade to vista you have to pay

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:34:25 +0000

I guess you are running this under WINE? if you check the application database you will find this entry http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=9792 which seems to indicate that it should work. If it is a 3d game you might have better results with the via drivers enabled (see the Compiz articles). Why not try posting a detailed report to the Wine appdb or try the mailing lists or irc channel.

By: stephen

stephen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:15:23 +0000

ive tried installing a game but when i try and play it the screen just has lots of lines going across and i cant do anything except shut the computer down.
does this mean that it is not compatible with linux or that the graphics card isnt good enough, its only an older version of championship manager so its not high graphics

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:59:54 +0000

no idea, try it and tell me how you get on. In fact if you write up your experiences with some screenshots I will post it as an article.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:46:41 +0000

sorry for all the questions but if using skype on linux would i need a very good broadband signal, my mobile broadband doesnt get very good signal in my house

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:37:07 +0000

far beyond my ability i think, still very green with linux, but thanks

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:30:21 +0000

well like I said, Skype might work, I am pretty sure you can get Skype for the OS/X. There is never “no way” to do something with Linux, sometimes it just requires more effort than you are prepared to put in! iChat encodes video streams in the H.264 codec, you could do something with the code from avidemux http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/index.php?title=H264 to capture encode and stream out your camera to the iChat thing if you can figure out the rest of the protocol. This would make an interesting project, a little beyond my abilities I am afraid.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:19:51 +0000

thanks for the reply, doesn that mean there is no way to have a video conversation with a mac?

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:03:37 +0000

@Steve, sure, just save a file as a .doc or .xls file if you want to use it on Microsoft office. The next version of Microsoft Office should have support for the new international standard ODF format. You can also install OpenOffice.org on Windows for free so you don’t need Microsoft Office at all.