Re: RFS: steam-powered
On Monday 03 September 2007 11:29:17 Miriam Ruiz wrote:
> I for one would prefer not to concentrate too much in adding that kind of
> software to Debian, and even less in trying to promote it if there's no
> real demand for it beforehand.
Very well said, Miriam. There are similar issues with other applications which
rely on non-free services to work correctly. GmailFS is a prime example for
this. Instead of promoting clients for provider-specific services, Debian
should promote standard interfaces to services and free implementations
thereof, and free clients to access them. This gives users more choice, and
as business people would say, provide a safer investment for the future.
We already have free multiplayer frameworks in Debian. Let's promote those as
they in turn promote running free games on them.
Another issue with Steam specifically is that it doesn't allow users to be
located in countries which were erased from the USA proprietary variant of
the world map (http://www.valvesoftware.com/terms.html). I would say that
this renders even the downloader non-DFSG-free, but that's probably
for -legal to decide.
Josef
Reply to: