Re: qmail in main?

[dark@xs4all.nl (Richard Braakman)]

Guy Maor wrote:
> The qmail maintainer, Philip Hands, has uploaded qmail-src for main.
> The package is source only, and anybody that installs it has to
> compile it themselves.  I believe that it is still not DFSG compliant
> because it cannot be distributed in binary form.  Opinions?

Hmm.  On the one hand, the DFSG is pretty clear about this:

     2.   Source Code

          The program must include source code, and must allow distribution
          in source code as well as compiled form.

On the other hand, this is in the "Source Code" section, not in the
"Compiled Form" section.  The "as well as" part may have been intended
as a clarification rather than as a requirement.  (I read it as a
requirement.)

Regardless of the interpretation of guideline 2, qmail also fails
guideline 3:

     3.   Derived Works

          The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must
          allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license
          of the original software.

A binary distribution of a program is a work derived from its source code,
and in this case we cannot distribute it at all.

qmail also fails this guideline in another way, by granting permission
only for patch files to be distributed, not for modified source.
Guideline 4 grants an exception for this, but qmail does not qualify:

  "The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built
   from modified source code."

In my opinion, qmail is not DFSG compliant for the reasons stated above.

Richard Braakman


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