Re: census: missing source packages
On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 1:28 AM, Gerfried Fuchs <rhonda@deb.at> wrote:
> Actually by providing the snapshot service we even give them more
> grounds to assume that. ;) Still, they don't accompany the sources with
> the binaries, and from what I understand they neither include a written
> offer valid for three years to hand out the sources, and these are the
> options with GPL.
I'd just like to inject my experience related to that. Finnix is a
LiveCD and a Debian derivative. 95% of the software on the CD are
unmodified from Debian upstream, the other (core scripts, extra
utilities, kernel, etc) are built specifically for Finnix and are in
an apt repository with full source for those packages. These are on
packages.finnix.org and are listed in the census. I do not actively
distribute unmodified Debian sources, and instead publicly recommend
checking snapshot.d.n. (Finnix is based off testing, so by the time
the user gets it, there's a good chance the specific package version
is no longer in the main archive.)
However, I also provide a written offer for the sources. With each
release, I compile a CD of all the used sources and then throw a
backup in my safe. I then offer copies of this for the price of
media/mailing (though if someone were just looking for a single
package, I would just throw it in a downloadable location for them,
rather than making them jump through physical media hoops). In over 6
years of releases, nobody has requested this. (Oddly enough; I keep
expecting the FSF or BusyBox to request, just to check compliance as
they are known to do.)
I even wrote a helper script to assist with downloading upstream
Debian sources for a Finnix release, damngpl[0] (don't worry, the name
is tongue-in-cheek). I would recommend anyone in a similar situation
as Finnix follow the same steps if you do not wish to take on the load
of offering all upstream Debian sources relevant to your derivative.
RF
[0] http://www.finnie.org/software/damngpl/
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