On Fri, Jun 13, 2003 at 05:02:27PM -0400, Gregory K.Johnson wrote: > Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> writes: > > I personally have advocated a fifth freedom: > > > > 5) The freedom to retain privacy in one's person, effects, and data, > > including, but not limited to, all Works in one's possession and one's > > own changes to Works written by others. > > > > I need to work on the wording of this fifth freedom a bit to make it > > clear that it is fair for a person to whom Free Software is distributed to > > demand access to the source code, including the source code to any > > changes or improvements made by the person from whom one is receiving > > the software. The point is that my usage of your Free Software does not > > entitle you to access to or any rights in my improvements to your > > software unless I distribute the Software back to you specifically. > > I added a phrase to the end that I think addresses these concerns: > > 5) The freedom to retain privacy in one's person, effects, and data, > including, but not limited to, all Works in one's possession and > one's own changes to Works written by others, except as these > changes or Works are willfully shared. My views are better expressed by Jeremy Hankins's mail; as noted in my original message, my thinking on point 5) wasn't as developed as it could have been. Mr. Hankings very nicely pulled together some principles I already had in mind but hadn't thought to ground freedom 5) on. > As others have pointed out, making a Debian list of free software > freedoms, with one freedom more than GNU's list, would be a bit > confusing and a bit untidy, but hardly enough so to rule out the idea. > I think that the most compelling reason to add privacy to the list is Let's just call it "freedom five" and not "privacy". Some folks may feel, with some legitimacy, that it's not really "privacy" that's being protected, though privacy advocates will probably have little to complain about. > to clarify that Debian holds the right to make private modifications > or anonymous public modifications to software in as high a regard as > the other freedoms; I consider as simply a handy fringe benefit that > the statement would also condemn so-called spyware. As others have > pointed out, spyware can be viewed as simply flawed -- and the other > freedoms facilitate fixing the flaws. And privacy as a human right is, > I think, too political and nonspecific to the project for an official > stance to be warranted. IMO there's nothing wrong with spyware per se, unless you *define* spyware to be that which surveilles people's actions without their knowledge and/or consent. In that case software itself isn't spyware and cannot be -- rather, spyware is a manner of deploying and administering software. > To Branden: Do you have plans to try to add such a document to the Web > site's statements of policy? Not yet. I would prefer this proposal to percolate for a while longer and see if I get flamed first. > What procedural hurdles stand in the way of doing so? (I'm new to > Debian, so please forgive my lack sophistication about the project's > inner workings.) If the proposal is broadly seen as a good idea, very little. If it turns out to be opposed by the DPL, the Debian Webmasters, or certain other prominent folks, it may require a General Resolution. According to clause 4.1.5 of the Constitution, the Developers can "issue nontechnical policy documents and statements" with a simple majority under the General Resolution process. My proposed document would not do anything to invalidate or supersede the Debian Social Contract or Free Software Guidelines, so people who feel that those documents enjoy a special, currently extra-Constitutial protected status should not have any objection on those grounds. But before we go that route I'd like to see if this document generates further discussion. Then the document needs to be updated to reflect the feedback-based consensus. It's not suitable in its current state. -- G. Branden Robinson | I just wanted to see what it looked Debian GNU/Linux | like in a spotlight. branden@debian.org | -- Jim Morrison http://people.debian.org/~branden/ |
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