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.

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: contrib/non-free policy



On Tue, 22 Jul 1997, Alex Yukhimets wrote:

> Bruce,
> 
> who whould bother supporting the packages which CANNOT be distributed
> for profit (typical candidates for non-free) ? Only non-profit
> organizations like Debian. Placing more packages in non-free will only
> benefit users by making available for installation in convenient form
> lots of free (from consumer point of view) software.
> 
> When you decided to put into Official CD both main and contrib
> distribution, it was logical, because it was the reason to have this
> split contib/non-free. Therefore noone, including truly FSG adherent
> members of Debian community (Sorry for my English) complained about
> that. Now, when you decided to remove contrib, I saw that only Manoj
> agreed with your decision. (I don't have illusions about several other
> key developers though.)

Well, I have been out of "ear shot" for a week, so I haven't yet spoken up
about this. I agree completely with Bruce. Contrib should not go on the
"Official Debian CD".

Look; contrib and non-free are really easy to understand if you are
willing. Package that have distribution restrictions go into non-free,
plain and simple. If the copyright/license restricts how the software can
be distributed, then it goes into non-free. The last time I checked, Pine
was there because its copyright prohibits distribution with proprietary
software. This means that I can put it on my CDs because I don't include
any proprietary software on my CDs. It still should/must go into the
non-free section for this restriction. Each distributor must decide if the
license fits their particular case. This is the message of non-free.
Packages go into contrib, if they depend on non-free packages, or other
contrib packages, or if they fail to provide other important needs, like
"no source", etc... So, it doesn't belong in the free section of the
distribution, but it is for reasons other than distribution restrictions.
As a result, I, as a CD manufacturer, don't have to worry when I include
contrib (for those users who need it) that I might be violating some
distribution restriction, as I must with non-free. 
This is the total distinction between the two, and I for one, don't have
any problem with the distinctions that are made.

Putting contrib on the "Official Debian CD" makes exactly the wrong
statements about our commitment to Free Software. We should put nothing on
any "Official Debian" product that is not completely free by our own
guidelines and standards. If we do this in the name of "providing" for our
users we are behaving in a hippocritical fashion about our Free Software
commitment. Appearing on the "Official Debian CD" should guarantee the
level of freedom Debian has defined for its Free Software products.

> 
> Politics never worth making trouble for lots of people (debian users
> in this case). PLEASE, reconsider your decision in favor of common
> sense and not politics.

What trouble? If those few packages in contrib and non-free are so useful
that you must have them, they are available via ftp or on CDs that aren't
"Official". You could even get one from me ;-) although I can't include
more than 20 packages from non-free at the moment.

Better yet, if the fact that a package isn't in the main distribution is
an ongoing problem, lobby the author to modify his license. There are
several methods that fit the Free Software definition that still allow
authors a high degree of control over their product.

Luck,

Dwarf
-- 
_-_-_-_-_-_-                                          _-_-_-_-_-_-_-

aka   Dale Scheetz                   Phone:   1 (904) 656-9769
      Flexible Software              11000 McCrackin Road
      e-mail:  dwarf@polaris.net     Tallahassee, FL  32308

_-_-_-_-_-_- If you don't see what you want, just ask _-_-_-_-_-_-_-



--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
debian-private-request@lists.debian.org . 
Trouble?  e-mail to templin@bucknell.edu .