Re: Proposal - non-free software removal
On 16 Nov 2002, John Hasler wrote:
> Bruce writes:
> > If I was a company I would certainly be hesitant to do anything with
> > Debian because it seems to have a problem with people making money off
> > software.
>
> Baffle. One of the most common reasons for packages to be in non-free is
> that their licenses forbid the making of money from them.
You may be able to convince them by pointing to non-free, and "the
most common reason" stuff is in non-free, or by showing them the
relevent sections of the DFSG--at least until non-free disappears and
the DFSG gets changed (if that is what actually happens).
I'm not referring to any specific technical reading of the DFSG, just
the impression a company trying to sell software is likely to get when
looking at supporting a distribution with an odd-ball packaging
scheme, GPL-like guidelines, and no support infrastructure for
commercial software.
Note:
"they [Debian's developers] seem to have a problem with making money
off Linux"
is a comment from the owner of a local Linux VAR. I don't necessarily
agree with it, but couldn't really argue against it because I've never
tried to deal with Debian on a company <-> organisation level.
Unfortunately, the most vocal Debian proponent on the list, who
has his own consulting business, was unable or unwilling to counter
the claim.
- Bruce
Reply to: