Re: Can we do without non-free?

[Steve Lamb <morpheus@calweb.com>]

On Thu, Aug 20, 1998 at 12:56:55AM -0700, Joey Hess wrote:
> > It is time to drop non-free. Debian has so many packages now, there must
> > be a counterpart of a non-free package in the main distribution. If we
> > can drop non-free this means we can really distribute free software and
> > put all our effort into the main distribution

> Those who don't want to work on non-free are welcome not to. There are
> packages in non-free that have no counterpart in main.

    Not to mention that non-free isn't in the distributions AFAIK.  Non-free
doesn't make it onto the CDs.  Non-free is there because the developers want
those packages.  

    And the whole "counterpart" idea is bunk.  Exim is a "counterpart" of
Sendmail which is a "counterpart" of smail which is a "counterpart" of
qmail, and so on.  They are all MTAs.  Now place any one of those in
non-free and tell the person who would like to see a Debianized package of
it "tough, there are counterparts, use them."  Now imagine telling that to
someone who is willing to make that Debianized package.

    Non-Free is there because, first and formost, Debian is about the end
user and Non-Free, like it or not, is a part of that.  It is a concession to
that.

-- 
             Steve C. Lamb             | Opinions expressed by me are not my
    http://www.calweb.com/~morpheus    | employer's.  They hired me for my
CC: from news not wanted or appreciated| skills and labor, not my opinions!
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