Re: Inconsistencies in our approach

[Lynn Winebarger <owinebar@free-expression.org>]

Branden Robinson wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 03, 2003 at 02:10:37AM +0200, Sergey V. Spiridonov wrote:
>
> > If one does not see the difference between program and documentation, it 
> > is very hard to explain why they do not need the same kind of freedoms.
>
>
> If one cannot coherently and usefully *describe* the difference between
> programs and documentation, it is difficult for other people to see it.
>
> I continue to suspect that people are indulging an Aristotelian
> categorization fetish solely as a means to an end, that end being to
> compel the Debian Project to ship their favorite w4r3z in main, heedless
> of the negative consequences to the freedoms that our users currently
> enjoy.

   Meanwhile, others fetishize the notion that the denotation of words
should be a Turing-recognizable set (along with an algorithm to demonstrate
it).

> After all, what utility would this distinction serve beyond providing
> one a means of routing around the DFSG's inconvenient restrictions?

    This is circular.  You are only routing around DFSG's inconvenient
restrictions if those restrictions apply (by virtue of being software).
It can also be turned around - why claim everything is software except
to force DSFG restrictions where they are unnecessary or undeserved?

Lynn