Re: Moving contrib and non-free of master.debian.org
In article <[🔎] 19990623012746.A13039@donut.dhis.org>,
Shane King <thandor@donut.dhis.org> wrote:
> The pragmatic approach is just as hypocritical, if not more so. You've
> basically said it's ok for debian to be pragmatic while telling the users
> they should not be pragmatic and instead rely on only software which
> conforms to the DFSG. That is hypocricy, pure and simple.
Where do we tell the users they should not be pragmatic? As it is, in
the Social Contract we promise them to keep Debian free (this is
talking about `main'), and we agree that there are occasions where it
might be advantageous to use non-free software. There are presumably
reasons why part of Debian's infrastructure is based on non-free stuff
(perhaps only `we didn't get around to convert it, yet').
> Need I quote the Debian social contract that states:
>
> "4. Our Priorities are Our Users and Free Software"
>
> This does not say "Our Priorities are pragmatic and technical". Instead it
> places freeness ahead of any technical superiority. Unless I'm mistaken,
> all developers are required to "agree with and pledge to uphold the Debian
> Social Contract", which makes me wonder how this non-free software got on
> the debian servers and has remained there for so long? Some people
> obviously haven't taken their pledge seriously...
The Social Contract doesn't say `Thou shalt not package non-free
software'. Anyway, if anything, it's the `Users' that have priority
over the `Free Software'; if there are people willing to support the
non-free packages then by all means let's give the users the
possibility to make an informed choice.
I agree with Shane that in my opinion hiding the non-free packages
doesn't cut it. Will we call their maintainers `unofficial Debian
maintainers' next? Their work is just as important for making Debian a
well-rounded distribution as that of the maintainers of packages in
`main', so it should not be moved off to some attic in the hope that
nobody will find it there. It is not going to go away just because
we stick our heads in the sand.
I like Debian because its attitudes are, on the whole, reasonable
rather than rabid. If I want to listen to the free software zealots I
know where I can find them.
Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau ......................... lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
Of course, bits are not eggs---but if you program as if they were, you will not
break any bits, whatever they may be, and thus you will never have to clean up
the mess. -- Chris Torek
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