Re: [gentoo-dev] RFC News item: FFmpeg default

[Peter Stuge]

Ben de Groot wrote:
> I see no reason to stick with libav as default, except political
> (which I'm trying to avoid here).

It's very convenient to try to ignore politics, but IMO that's no
better in open source than on election day. A default is always a
political choice.

With any choice, the mainstream option is obviously more convenient,
but that doesn't make it right, only convenient. I've found that the
mainstream option is actually much more likely to be wrong.

To spell it out: I consider distributions to have a moral duty to
make informed political choices, also for overridable defaults, for
the benefit of users who don't bother making a choice themselves.

It's obvious that the world can be ruled with instant gratification.

It's further obvious to me that settling for what seems good in the
short-term may not really benefit anyone.

I think Gentoo needs to be explicitly and consciously political about
defaults. Competitors deserve no less than to be chosen or not chosen
based on their actual merits rather than popularity. Not making an
informed political choice is lame.

But whatever. Neither Gentoo nor the rest of the world runs on facts
or even right and wrong, so carry on. :)


//Peter