[Trisquel-users] Dolphin and Emulation

[bfxms at bellsouth.net]

I am sure others can answer much better than I can, but here are my thoughts  
based on my understanding of what I've read on the FSF website...

Whether or not WINE is Free Software or not, it creates an environment that  
allows installation and use of proprietary software which goes against the  
idea of free (libre) software.  I would consider using an emulator for this  
purpose to be a non-free software position because even though the emulator  
may be free, it still uses a proprietary layer to access the content.  As I  
said, this is only my opinion and I could be wrong.

It can be hard sometimes when programs or content we really want aren't  
completely usable due to software limitations.  For me one sticking point is  
flash.  I have tried both SWFDEC and GNASH, and depending on the website,  
each one will have different levels of functionality.  It would be so easy to  
just get the flash version from Adobe, but if you start adding bits and  
pieces of non-free software it defeats the purpose of a distro such as  
Trisquel.  This is one reason we really need to encourage use of open  
standards rather than proprietary ones.

I would like to hear comments from those wiser and with more experience than  
me.