The Ubuntu forums are running a survey about the option of having proprietary software in their software center for users to purchase if they wish. Whats interesting is the survey mentions Adobe Photoshop. So whats the problem?

I know this promotes the use of proprietary software but it does break down one more barrier to GNU/Linux adoption and that can only be a good thing while the GIMP isn't "good enough" for those picky Photoshop-loving graphic designers. Now even they can make the switch.

Apple has always been very protective over their proprietary software. The company doesn't want anything but iTunes to control an iPod - and for good reason, too.

I really don’t get it how people can continue pirating proprietary software like some Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) when there are quality, Free Software alternatives like the Gimp or Inkscape.

Despite the FSF's caution (arguing that giving people proprietary software would discourage freedom in the long term too) Canonical opens the door to non-Free software

"No matter how glib and sarcastic the proprietor, proprietary software denies users the freedoms to inspect, share, and modify the program. Users of Adobe’s proprietary Creative Suite software recently discovered that the program communicates over the network with a machine apparently owned by Omniture, a company that tracks web usage..."

"Thanks to Canonical and its success with popularizing Ubuntu Linux, there has been an astonishing influx of new GNU/Linux users. This is one of those good news -- bad news scenarios; the growth is wonderful, but it also brings a growth in user demands, and a carryover of bad habits from the proprietary software world.

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, arguably the most popular of all Linux distributions, is asking its users what new, proprietary programs they'd like to see as optional software in Ubuntu.

Steve Jobs' recent missive on the deficiencies of Adobe's Flash is still reverberating around the Internet. In this guest editorial, John Sullivan of the Free Software Foundation responds, arguing that Apple is presenting users with a false choice between Adobe's proprietary software and Apple's walled garden.