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When and how to add proprietary software to your desktop Linux

[ Thanks to Jodie for
this link. ]

“Some people hate the idea of adding proprietary
software to their desktop Linux. For these people, there are Linux
distributions such as gNewSense that use only free software. For
the rest of us, who use distributions such as Fedora, openSUSE and
Ubuntu, there are times we either want to, or feel forced to, add
proprietary programs such as Adobe Flash or Skype or the ability to
play proprietary audio and video formats such as MP3 or commercial
DVDs to your Linux desktop. Here’s how to do it.

“Before taking this path though, you should consider that there
are many open-source programs that can deliver the same goods as
proprietary software. For instance, Gnash plays most Flash
animations and videos just as well as Adobe’s own Flash does. For
an overview of free and open-source software that can give you the
same functionality as Windows software, check out the Ubuntu’s Free
Software Alternatives page. You may well find that you can get by
without proprietary software after all.”


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