Re: General Resolution: Removing non-free
On Thu, Jun 08, 2000 at 01:03:50PM -0500, Steve Greenland wrote:
> On 08-Jun-00, 07:46 (CDT), Jules Bean <jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Debian is about building a _community_. The DFSG outlines the
> > requirements software must meet to be part of that community.
>
> Debian is also about building a superior Linux distribution and
> providing great tools to our users. Some tools are in non-free
> for what are (in my mind, at least), relatively minor violations
> of the DFSG. For example, does distribution of a program that
> forbids commercial distribution *really* hurt the free software
> community? Yes, it would be better if that restriction were removed,
> but it's a lot different than forbidding modification, or shareware.
while there's some truth in what you say, it's really not that
significant. non-free is non-free, regardless of the reason.
the point of the DFSG is that it's about freedom, not price. the only
restriction on user freedom acceptable to the DFSG is a restriction
which prevents you from imposing additional restrictions on other users.
it doesn't matter whether you give away a free program, or sell it - the
question is not how much it costs, but what freedoms the end user has
with regard to the program.
craig
--
craig sanders
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