Re: A possible GFDL compromise: a proposal
Mathieu Roy, 2003-09-12 10:20:10 +0200 :
> Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> a tapoté :
[...]
>> That's really "end of discussion". If this clear wordings stands also
>> for the FSF, than there is nothing how the manuals can become free.
>
> [become free _SOFTWARE_]
Look. Either Debian is 100% Free Software as in "nothing but Free
Software", in which case these manuals can't enter Debian because they
aren't Software. Or Debian is 100% Free Software as in "Stuff that we
collectively call Software, and which is Free" in which case they
can't enter Debian because they're not Free.
My personal opinion is that Debian is about freedom. I joined
Debian because of freedom. Hence, free Stuff. It seems to me,
increasingly, that the FSF is about both freedom and politics, and
their political texts are not free. My view is that these non-free
(non-software if you like) works do not belong in Debian. It may not
be the official Debian position, but if we disagree long enough and
hard enough and there's a GR and a vote on it, I'll vote for
Debian-is-for-freedom (which would basically mean s/Software/Stuff/g
in our Social Contract and DFSG and related texts), not for
Debian-is-for-freedom-and-non-free-texts-about-freedom.
Unfortunately, intermingling non-free politics in the invariant
sections of documentation licensed under the GFDL makes the
documentation as a whole non-free for the current Debian Free
Software/Stuff Guidelines. And if we want to have stuff officially
labeled as non-software in Debian, (even though the distinction is
hard to make, as has been pointed out already), then we need to write
(and agree with) some Debian Free Non-Software Guidelines. I'll be
waiting for your draft amendment. Be warned though, if it allows for
blatantly non-free stuff in licenses, like invariant sections, then
I'll probably vote against it.
There was this guy who said something along the lines of "I disagree
with you, but I'll fight for your right to express your opinion". My
stance is along the same lines: I won't prevent you from using,
modifying and redistributing the texts/manuals/software/stuff I have
written, even though you may be tempted to actually use that freedom
to produce stuff that I don't like. That's my perception of the
Debian spirit. I may be wrong and that may not be the most generally
shared spirit amongst Debian developers, but it's definitely the
spirit of this particular Debian developer.
Roland.
--
Roland Mas
Just a little bit of you every day will surely keep the doctors away.
-- Just a little bit of you (The Jackson Five)
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