Re: How about a new section "[partially free]"?
On Sun, Dec 02, 2001 at 04:11:04AM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 02, 2001 at 10:19:55AM +0100, Thomas Uwe Gruettmueller wrote:
> Interpret DFSG 3
> *THAT* strictly and there wouldn't be much left *in* Debian. Just
> public domain materials. We may as well just fold up shop and quit if
> that's the case.
>
That's absolutely true. Public domain is very dangerous. During the
1970s, Unix was public domain. One day, some guys decided that Unix
belonged to all, so it belonged to them, too; so they said it was their
property. Next was that they copyrighted it, so it now belonged to them
exclusively. They even billed some of the developers to pay big fees
for using their own system (BSD in the 1980s). That was absolutely legal.
So a copyright is necessary to have a legal protection. Otherwise, the
wolves and pigs will eat your free packages, and even request a million
dollars fee for it.
The DFSG in its actual interpretation is suicide. Debian must revise
it to survive and to stay free.
Bernd Warken
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