Re: Bug#181028: cdrecord: promotes non-free software
On Sat, Feb 22, 2003 at 05:12:55PM +0100, Andreas Metzler wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 14, 2003 at 03:36:31PM -0500, Ben Collins wrote:
> > Cdrecord says this when I am using a DVD burner (even while burning
> > normal CDR/CDRW):
>
> > cdrecord: If you need DVD-R/DVD-RW support, ask the Author for cdrecord-ProDVD.
>
> > cdrecord-ProDVD is non-free, binary-only.
>
> > IMO, it should say this instead:
>
> > cdrecord: If you need DVD-R/DVD-RW support, install dvdrecord.
>
> > DVDRecord is a fork of cdrecord, is free and supports DVD-R/DVD-RW.
>
> Hello,
> It would be a gross understandment to say that cdrtool's author, Joerg
> Schilling, is not in favour of this fork. Please take a look at
> http://groups.google.at//groups?as_q=dvdrecord+copyright&as_uauthors=schilling
Of course not. It is dipping into pocket. But that's free software. We
are allowed to fork it.
> Changing cdrtools' sourcecode to point at dvdrecord will likely
> have these consequences:
> * relationship to cdrtool's author gets worse.
> * We, ie. the package maintainers, suddenly would be part of a flamewar
> that we aren't interested in. (I can only speak for myself, I don't
> know about Joerg and Eduard)
IMO, we should not be promoting non-free software, especially when there
is a free alternative. Just because Joerg wants to make a buck doesn't
mean we have to let Debian become an advertising medium for him. He is
using our distribution and our users to promote a closed source product.
The choice should be clear.
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