Proposed solution to free/non-free Debate -- Please Read!
I have been argueing this date for a little while now because I felt it was
important to the core of Debian -- not just in an effort to make trouble or
enemies or whatever.
Anyways, I thought it might be a good idea to express exactly what I would
consider changing and stop all this quickly-divergent-off-the-subject banter.
1. I suggest we revise the wording of the DFSG to be a little more non-free
software friendly. Not relax our standards, just change the wording some to
reflect a little more passive relationship instead of the hostile relationship
it seems to currently convey in parts.
2. Make the new, improved DFSG a lot more "in the way" to a new person
looking into Debian. By this I simply mean that we should try to make it our
effort to make sure that every time someone looks at the Debian site for the
first time, they manage to run into and read the DFSG and/or the social
contract. It just isn't obvious. We might also think about inserting it
somewhere near the beginning of the install process.
3. Just a side idea which I think would be a good step has large effort
involved. Change non-free to non-dfsg. I know the effort this would require
and I have heard the complaints comments. Someone said before this was bad
because it was harder for a new user to understand but this is exactly why I
think we should change it. You couldn't help understand from where we came.
Also, it would be (IMHO) a little more fair to those "not quite as non-free as
some packages but still non-free packages."
I will try to present an actual copy to the list in the next day or so of what
I actually mean for part 1 (revision of the DFSG).
Then, we can discuss the idea, adapt it if anyone besides me and a few others
like it, and then vote yes or no. Please condsider the ideas here carefully
to see if you find and validity in them.
Paul J Thompson
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