On Mon, Aug 11, 2003 at 09:50:41AM -0000, MJ Ray wrote: > Wouter Verhelst <wouter@grep.be> wrote: > > I meant to say that I do not think it is unlikely that the definition > > would be different; not that I think the DFSG cannot be applied to > > documentation. However, even if it can be applied to documentation, I > > feel it should not be. > > * Why do you feel this? Because in my opinion, that of the FSF, and that of the people who negotiated an international agreement on software copyright, documentation and computer programs are two distinct things. Even if you can apply the DFSG to documentation, different laws apply, and people have different inclinations to write documentation as opposed to writing software. > * Documentation is irrelevant, as we can't ship it in isolation from the > document containing it. Do you think documents and other works should be s/document/program here, I presume? > treated differently to programs? Yes. > * Do you feel that agrees with your responsibilities as a developer? Yes, as it is not because I feel the rules of free documentation should be different from those of free 'computer programs', that I do not think documentation should not be free. > > [...The bug is] > > we don't have a clear policy on how documentation needs to be > > handled > > Can you demonstrate this bug without referring to mailing lists, please? Uhm. I think it's obvious there's disagreement on what the word 'software' in the DFSG is supposed to mean. Of course, I cannot demonstrate that without referring to mailinglists, since such is based on opinions, and seen the way Debian works, the only way we can record opinions is through mailinglists (and IRC logs, but I have none of those). > Is a GR now a better fix than completing the draft debian documentation > policy to reflect intended practice? I don't think a draft documentation policy, based on the DFSG, would fix anything. > [...] > > Even if we decide that there is no such need, we still have to make that > > decision. 'We' as 'The Debian Project' here. Debian-legal cannot do that > > on its own. > > Agreed, but should you not first at least attempt to convince the > responsible delegate before overriding them with a GR? Is there a responsible delegate? I wasn't aware of that. Who is it, and what exactly is his/her responsibility? -- Wouter Verhelst Debian GNU/Linux -- http://www.debian.org Nederlandstalige Linux-documentatie -- http://nl.linux.org "An expert can usually spot the difference between a fake charge and a full one, but there are plenty of dead experts." -- National Geographic Channel, in a documentary about large African beasts.
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