Re: Packages containing RFCs
On Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 04:59:07PM +0200, Frank K?ster wrote:
> Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com> wrote:
>
> > Justin Pryzby <justinpryzby@users.sourceforge.net> writes:
> >> I *swear* that one of the project documents said something highly
> >> relevant, to the effect of "nonfree material might be included in a
> >> package in `main' if it is well-separated, and not required for the
> >> operation of the package". I can't find it, so I'd appreciate it if
> >> someone would point it out to me .. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that it
> >> made explicit mention of RFCs and some humour files included with
> >> emacs.
> >
> > I think the humour files in emacs (that doesn't have a clear and free
> > license) are being removed, so perhaps that text has gone away.
> >
> > Anyway, if someone knows about that text, it would be quite
> > interesting to see where it was written and why (if at all) it has
> > been changed.
>
> Could it be that what Justin is looking for is actually a statement that:
>
> Packages that contain *contrib* material which is "well-separated and not
> required for the operation of the package" can go into main?
>
> That one is true, I'm sure, although I can't give you a reference,
> either.
Strange that nobody on this list knew where to find it:
http://people.debian.org/~bap/dfsg-faq.html
|# Q: Does the DFSG apply only to computer programs?
|A: No, we apply our standards of freedom to all parts of all software
|in Debian. This includes computer programs, documentation, images,
|sounds, etc. The text of licenses themselves in general need not be
|free, although legal wording itself is often not subject to copyright
|and hence effectively in the public domain. Although this is a
|subject of some controversy within the project, in practice sometimes
|tiny little snippets of non-free text, generally of historic or
^^^^^^^^
|humorous or intellectual value, are included (eg
|/usr/share/emacs/21.3/etc/{JOKES,MOTIVATION}). These should not be
|integral parts of the package, nor included in a non-removable
|fashion, nor constitute functional parts of the package such as code
|or documentation. In general we would suggest avoiding such things,
|but you do not have to go to enormous trouble to find and root them
|out. In a similar vein, sometimes relevant scientific papers or
|technical reports of unclear copyright status are included; although
|they are not approved, of there has been no systematic effort to find
|and remove such manuscripts.
|We do not consider any of this a precedent for the inclusion of
|non-free code or documentation.
Though it doesn't specifically mention RFCs..
The emacs files still exist, BTW:
$ PKG MOTIVATION |grep -w MOTIVATION
usr/share/emacs/21.4/etc/MOTIVATION [17]editors/emacs21
usr/share/emacs/22.0.50/etc/MOTIVATION [18]editors/emacs-s
usr/share/xemacs-21.4.19/etc/MOTIVATION [21]editors/xemacs2
$ PKG JOKES |grep -w JOKES
usr/share/emacs/21.4/etc/JOKES [27]editors/emacs21
usr/share/emacs/22.0.50/etc/JOKES [28]editors/emacs-s
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