Comment 12 for bug 694328
Revision history for this message
| Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) wrote Re: Third-party software option during installation is unfortunately worded | #12 |
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Hi Chris. I worked with a couple of lawyers to produce the original text. So I might be biased towards my own wording, and there are legal constraints here, but don't let either of those things put you off. :-)
However, it looks as if you (and Vish) thought that the checkbox covered only the MP3 codec, not the other software; started rewriting the text accordingly; and then, part-way through, realized that the checkbox actually does install the other software too. So, I'm not sure what problem you're now trying to solve. Maybe it is a real problem that the checkbox caption makes the checkbox seem like it covers only the MP3 codec, but if so, changing the intro text probably can't fix that, and your revision of it at least does not.
Your revised wording also has several difficulties:
1. We are legally required to mention that "The software is subject to the license terms included with the software's documentation", but your text removes it.
2. Even without that vital sentence, your intro text is 73% longer than the original. With the license terms sentence restored, it would be over twice as long as the original.
3. The first sentence flatly states that Ubuntu can't play YouTube, AAC, or MP3, which is incorrect. It is true that you need to install extra software to do it, but "This does not stop you enabling those features yourself" three sentences later is an obscure way of saying so.
4. "isn't" uses a non-typographical apostrophe.
5. "Flash video, such as those" is a number mismatch. Should be "videos".
6. "Youtube" should be "YouTube".
7. The third sentence says "licensing restrictions … prohibit these features being built into Ubuntu", which is also incorrect: multiple OEMs ship Ubuntu with those features preinstalled. What is true is that licensing restrictions prevent us from including that software in a freely redistributable OS. (I judged it wouldn't be useful to explain that in the original text.)
8. "Enable these features now" is much less meaningful than "Install this third-party software".
9. We are legally required to say that "Fluendo MP3 plugin includes MPEG Layer-3 audio decoding technology licensed from Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson", but your branch removes it.