The debian-private mailing list leak, part 1. Volunteers have complained about Blackmail. Lynchings. Character assassination. Defamation. Cyberbullying. Volunteers who gave many years of their lives are picked out at random for cruel social experiments. The former DPL's girlfriend Molly de Blanc is given volunteers to experiment on for her crazy talks. These volunteers never consented to be used like lab rats. We don't either. debian-private can no longer be a safe space for the cabal. Let these monsters have nowhere to hide. Volunteers are not disposable. We stand with the victims.
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Re: contrib/non-free policy

>>"Milan" == Milan Zamazal <pdm@fi.muni.cz> writes:

Milan> I've ever thought the main purpose of Debian is to provide as
Milan> good as possible environment for Linux users.  Yes, we want to
Milan> support free software, but I think it shouldn't be the *primary
Milan> and only* target. I really don't know, why almost free programs
Milan> couldn't be on Debian CDs.

	Not the only target, no, but I do think it is a primary
 target. Red Hat and Caldera cater to the non-free software. I,
 personally, am very happy with our decision not to deliver non-free
 programs to customers.

Milan> Example: SWI Prolog license is very similar to GPL.  For most
Milan> users differences doesn't matter, but SWI Prolog probably can't
Milan> be in the main distribution.

	Does it make a difference to Lawyers?  

Milan> However it is freely modifiable in the GPL sense so it can be
Milan> fully supported and distributed without restrictions. What's
Milan> wrong with SWI Prolog on Debian CDs, especially when this is
Milan> the most free and very popular real Prolog interpreter?  Why
Milan> should Debian users search it somewhere on ftp?

	Popularity is not a criteria (guess which is the most
 ``popular'' os out there?). I am not familiar with the SWI licence,
 so I can't comment, but if it was really free it would pass our
 guidelines. if it does not, it is not free in the Debian sense. 

Milan> One can make a distribution based on Debian including partially
Milan> free packages on CDs.  But I don't know about any such an
Milan> attempt.  When such distributions are available, we can
Milan> possibly be more restrictive.

	I object strongly. If such a product is needed enough, it will
 be provided. If it is not provided, evidently it is not needed. In
 any case I see no need to dilute our stand.

Milan> But today Debian is the only service of its kind and we
Milan> shouldn't destroy it through artificial constraints.  

	On the contrary, the thing that sets Debian apart is our
 philosophy, and I think your proposal will destroy Debian as it
 is. We shall become yet another commercial distributor of Linux, not
 *The* free software distribution.

Milan> It could lower its user base significantly.

	Gaining user base is not a major goal, quality is. If we
 provide a better *free* mousetrap, the world shall beat a path ...

Milan> Because Debian is fully dependent on its user base (no users =>
Milan> no developers), we must offer as much as *possible* to public
Milan> community and not to make their life harder only because
Milan> (whatever important) political statements.

	I don't buy this. How was Debian started in the forst place?
 It had no users, or even a distribution. There was a vision, and that
 is what your proposal is attempting to destroy.

	manoj
 in a slight huff
-- 
Manoj Srivastava               <url:mailto:srivasta@acm.org>
Mobile, Alabama USA            <url:http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>


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