Re: Can we do without non-free?
On Thu, 20 Aug 1998, Joop Stakenborg wrote:
:
: Joey Hess wrote:
:
: >
: > Those who don't want to work on non-free are welcome not to. There are
: > packages in non-free that have no counterpart in main.
: >
:
: Here is my point: we want to distribute FREE software. Why do we need to have
: a non-free section? What packages from non-free do we really need?
I think you are confused (or intentionally ignoring part of the Social
Contract) ...
Social Contract, guideline 5:
5. Programs That Don't Meet Our Free-Software Standards
We acknowledge that some of our users require the use of programs
that don't conform to the Debian Free Software Guidelines. We have
^^^^^^^
created "contrib" and "non-free" areas in our FTP archive for this
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
software. The software in these directories is not part of the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Debian system, although it has been configured for use with Debian.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
We encourage CD manufacturers to read the licenses of software
packages in these directories and determine if they can distribute
that software on their CDs. Thus, although non-free software
isn't a part of Debian, we support its use, and we provide
infrastructure (such as our bug-tracking system and mailing lists)
for non-free software packages.
"contrib" and "non-free" are "not part of the Debian system" ... so your
argument that they are part of the distribution (and therefore a
contradiction) is invalid.
--
Nathan Norman
MidcoNet 410 South Phillips Avenue Sioux Falls, SD
mailto:finn@midco.net http://www.midco.net
finger finn@home.midco.net for PGP Key: (0xA33B86E9)
Reply to: