Re: Keeping non-free separate
Bruce Perens:
> No, I verified that they were not free, but that their licenses allowed me
> to put them on a CD and sell them.
Sorry to bother you again, but I thought non-free was precisely for
packages which may not be sold on CDs. Now I am confused. Please
explain (at least give examples of such packages) - thanks!
> Rather than put the non-free programs in the distribution, we should consider
> dropping the non-free directory _and_its_contents_ from Debian. We don't
> really need anything in there, and it would be nice to get closer to the
I don't think so. There are some useful packages there, which have no
GNU replacements - for example, one of them is commonly used by Debian
developers to sign the changes files...
I really don't want to start a flame war on this (so if anyone out there
disagrees with me, please tell me so in private mail, and I'll summarize
later) but at least for me, having the maximum number of useful packages
available (even if only for anonymous ftp) is important. Free software
ideal, while still very important, is secondary for me, especially if
there is not yet a free replacement for a non-free but useful package.
Please note that I like Debian very much, even though I don't like a few
little things about it. To improve a product, someone has to criticize
it, too. Let's not get angry at each other!
Marek
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