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.
From: Marek Michalkiewicz <marekm@i17linuxb.ists.pwr.wroc.pl>
> 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.
You're not the only one. For example, shareware programs can be "sold" on CD
but require payment for use. I'd be more specific, but I can't get to
"master" at the moment. I'd better send Simon a note...
Bruce:
> Rather than put the non-free programs in the distribution, we should consider
> dropping the non-free directory _and_its_contents_ from Debian.
Marek:
> 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...
Yes, I know. I'm thinking about how Debian should be differentiating itself
from the commercial Linux distributions. One way would be for the system to
be _entirely_ free software, since they are all picking up commercial
software on their CDs. I have previously been a champion of the non-free
software in Debian, but I am re-thinking my position on it.
Thanks
Bruce
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