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Nonsensical "arguments" (was: Why Anthony Towns is wrong)



On Sun, Mar 07, 2004 at 10:20:49PM -0800, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote:
> Anthony Towns has been arguing that the non-free archive really *is*
> part of Debian, that while it isn't part of the "Debian Distribution",
> it is obviously a part of the system as a whole.

In my opinion, Debian is an adjective, not a noun.   So there's an
implicit or explicit noun associated with the word in phrases like
"part of Debian" -- when it's implicit, you have to determine that noun
from context.  Example nouns include:

  archive
  base system
  cdrom
  developer
  free software guidelines
  infrastructure
  mailing lists
  main archive
  ftp mirror
  package
  private keys
  project
  sarge
  social contract

> This disregards the current text of the Social Contract section 5,
> which is very clear that the non-free archives are "not part of the
> Debian system" and that "non-free software isn't a part of Debian".

Near as I can tell, you have disregarded the basic principles of logic,
starting with your subject line which doesn't present a logical argument
but instead presents a personal attack.

Also, you've seemingly ignored related provisions in paragraphs 1 and 4
(and, for that matter, 3).

-- 
Raul



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