Re: non-DFSG section and CD distributers
There seems to be a problem here, but it must be solved
the other way round.
Paul :>
James:> >
Paul :> > > >
> I guess this answers my question...
>
> > Paul J Thompson <thomppj@thomppj.student.okstate.edu> writes:
> >
> > [ Reordered to something sane (James)]
> >
> > > > [Question about renaming non-free to non-DFSG
> > > > originating from someone producing a Debian CD (aa)]
The question was reasonable, all CD makers or first time
installers are not Debian developers.
> > >
> > > Short and simply, I second this suggestion. Anyone else agree?
I think something should be done. I also think that a better
way would be to have a short note at toplevel, where there is
a short description of directory hierarchy and a description of
names and a reference to DFSG.
> > Most definitely not.
> >
> > Debian has a definition of free, it's in the Debian Free Software
> > Guidelines. Software which is not free by that definition goes into
> > the non-free section on our ftp site. It's in non-free on *Debian's*
> > ftp site, because it isn't considered free by Debian. What's the
> > problem here?
Only documentation, I think.
> > --
> > James - DFSG. Why are there developers who a) haven't read it? and b)
> > appear to be opposed or completely apathetic to the
> > fundamental idea behind it (free software)? *sigh*
It's not a question of developers, they (mostly) know their ropes,
but other users and prospective users.
To start things rolling I sketch here what I ment with short note:
==========
This is Debian 1.3.x distribution that is organized as follows:
dists
!-- stable
! !-- main
! !-- contrib
! !-- non-free
!
!-- unstable
!-- main
!-- contrib
!-- non-free
- stable is software where Debian has some confidency that all the
parts work together
- unstable is development snapshot of software believed to work,
it may be broken at times
Debian also has 'experimental' hierarchy for for software not yet
ready for prime time.
Some cryptography related software is only carried by non-us sites
see list at xxx. This is often referred as non-us distribution.
If you see 'bo' or 'hamm' they are code names and refer to stable
and unstable.
Sources are under each of {main,contrib,non-free}, but probably
on a separate CD.
- main distribution: this contains all software Debian considers
(intellectually) free, definition for this is in DFSG
- contrib distribution: this contains software Debian considers free,
but that depends on something not on main distribution
- non-free distribution: this contains all software that is not
free by Debian definition, it may e.g. only allow non-commercial use
All the distributions have similar internal structure, like this:
Packages
sources
binary
binary-all
binary-i386
etc.
where the platform specific binary directory has subdirectories
by application type.
Installation is done with the 'dselect' program which you point
to top of the tree (i.e. dists).
==========
cheers, aa
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