Love Ubuntu, but concerned that the open source Linux distribution isn't open source enough? One of the great things about Ubuntu is that it has broad support for a wide variety of hardware and software. But that's partly because it uses proprietary drivers and plug-ins.

Responding to complaints from some in the free software community, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth has announced the launch of Gobuntu, a version of Ubuntu with no proprietary components.

The first image is available for download, but as with all things Ubuntu, it will be under constant development.

This is great news for those interested in free (as in speech) software. But most users who see Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows or Mac OSX are likely going to want to stick to the varieties of Ubuntu that include graphics driver support and software like Adobe Flash player.

[via Ars Technica]

Giveaway of the Day is a site that offers instruction on brain surgery and building nuclear-powered devices. Okay, not really. Pretty predictably, Giveaway of the Day is a site that gives something away every day, and that something is commercial software. Over the last few days, copies of EasyDVDCopy, iPod AudioBook, CDuke, LoadScout, and Frigate3 File Manager have been given away.

The plan at Giveaway of the Day is to work with software publishers to offer fully-licensed versions of their software for free for one day as a promotional tool. Publishers gain the word of mouth advertising that comes from happy users acquiring a full license to their products, and Giveaway of the Day gets to be the ones offering the giveaways. And users get free software - so theoretically it's a win-win-win situation.

At the moment, the software titles that have been offered are not familiar to me (with the exception of Frigate3 File Manager), so it seems that at least initially, GAOTD is working out arrangements with smaller software publishers. That's not a knock against them, however - a plan like this can take some time to execute, and already they're offering free commercial titles.

Here's the stated goal at Giveaway of the Day, right from their site:
Yes, we are giving away software, and you can download it from our site, right now and right here and our goal is to give away every good piece of software, sooner or later.

That's not a bad plan!

[Update] There's an interesting discussion going on in the comments. One commenter notes that the software must be installed the same day it is downloaded, or you are required to pay for it to install it. It turns out the terms are set out on the site, and I simply missed them when writing up this post. From what I can tell, it's not a scam, but not quite as free as it seems at first blush. If you're interested in how this site's promotion actually works, check out the comments.

Ah, software patents. They're not the hot topic they were a year ago, but that doesn't mean they've gone away. Free Software Magazine's Pieter Hintjens has penned an editorial titled What's wrong with software patents? "from a different angle, one based more on economics and less on emotions." It won't surprise you that Hintjens' conclusion, based on economics though it may be, still does not favor software patents. "The conclusions are clear," he writes. "Copyright, trademark, and trade secret are good forms of property for the software business, though copyright terms are a problem. Patents are a bad form of property for the software business, because they amplify the general weaknesses of the patent system." The article is fairly well thought-out, though I'm not entirely Hintjens succeeds in the economic-not-emotional thing.

What do you make of all this? Software patents: Good or bad? Is there a happy medium? Is there a solution?

There's plenty of free (as in beer) software out there, but finding what you need can be almost impossible if you just head out, unarmed, into the wilds of the Internet. Enter MacLibre.

If you've used Linux, you're probably familiar with package managers. You may have even used Fink on Mac OS X. If so, MacLibre is old news to you. But for plenty of people, it can be a serious time saver. MacLibre puts a pretty face and intuitive GUI onto a concept that, previously, could be pretty intimidating to non-power users.

Once you've installed MacLibre on your system, you can then browse the available software titles and cherry-pick the ones you want to install. MacLibre features an ever-growing variety of applications, from browsers and chat clients to Office suites and multimedia. Here are just a few selections:

• Audacity (audio editing software)
• Gimp (poor man's Photoshop)
• Adium (multi-protocol chat client)
• Cyberduck (FTP client)
• Firefox (I don't have to tell you what this is)
• VLC (multimedia player)
• AbiWord (word processor)

[Via Who Needs Oxygen]

Could serving ads to desktop applications really work? Will it not be annoying to the user? Well SpiceWorks launched a software product that monitors networks. Not only does this product have a simple download, it's free. And how does their company sustain and make some cash? By serving Google ads.

The administration console of SpiceWorks actually has Google ads. When the software is being utilized by the administrator, ads display for the specific item they are looking at, whether it be a printer, scanner, or other device.

Do you think this will work? And will the ads get in the way of your network monitoring? They are off to the side, in their own little area, not obstructive, and do aid in making the software free to use. What do you think? Drop a comment.

[via c|net]

Once you've sorted out gifts for your family, friends, and favorite bloggers, why not give a bit back to the people whose free software you enjoy (and depend on) all year 'round? Devanshu Mehta has put together a great list of free software projects and organizations that depend on your donations and involvement to keep producing great products. Among his picks are the Mozilla Foundation, the Wikimedia Foundation, OpenOffice.org, the Fedora Project, Emacs, Adium, Fink, and, of course, the EFF. I would also add to that list the Free Software Foundation, WordPress, and in a slightly different category, Child's Play.