Re: Why Anthony Towns is wrong
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.
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".
People can say, argue and believe whatever they want. We have a policy
and a constitution that clears things up in most cases. But people can
*still* argue, say and believe whatever they want (don't let me get
started on the economy (or environment) and the way Republicans think it
works. I know they are dead wrong. Most other sane people think they are
dead wrong, but they can still believe, say and argue whatever they want :P
If the "get rid of non-free" resolution fails, then it will still
remain true that non-free is not part of the Debian system, and is
indeed not part of Debian. So, Sven, Anthony, Bdale, will you join me
in correcting users who think that non-free is part of Debian? Will
you commit to not saying any more that it is? Will you not speak as
if the non-free packages ever were part of Debian?
I *will* say whatever the hell I want and I'm sure that Anthony will say
whatever the hell he wants. This is kind of a right people have in a few
countries.
Last time I checked, if someone wants to be sure of the "laws" of
Debian, they can consult at least the constitution^H^H^H^H^H^H^HSocial
Contract or the policy.
It is my conviction that Social Contract paragraph 5 represents a
compromise position. And that compromise has essentially all but
broken down. At least the proposers of the resolution have the
honesty to say it has; the opponents seem to want to say it's just
fine, while they ignore the part of the compromise they don't like.
I think we need to get rid of paragraph 5 entirely. It's purpose has
long since been served; and those who would like it to remain are
themselves not happy with the compromise.
This is *not* up to you alone. That's why we have the voting thingy. You
can vote. I can vote. Ahhh, the privilege of The Great Debian Nation.
- Adam
--
Building your applications one byte at a time
http://www.galacticasoftware.com
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