Re: Outdated GNU config (config.{sub,guess}) and autotools-dev
On Sun, 22 Jul 2001, Steve Langasek wrote:
>...
> > > I don't particularly want to be carrying around the entire text of
> > > config.* in my Debian diff.gz,
>
> > For me, compliance with licenses and a transparent build system matters
> > more than a short Debian diff.gz.
>
> I also believe license compliance is important, but the GPL is as much a
> social covenant as it is a license; if you violate the letter of the GPL but
> not the spirit, the FSF is not likely to ever take you to court, and if you're
> never taken to court, the letter of the license is not important. Thus, I
> think it's possible for us to be too literal when trying to understand the
> GPL. If anything, this is a bug to be fixed in the GPL, nothing more.
>...
I think most of the programs in Debian are copyright under the GPL (are
there any figures?) but only a very small percentage of them is
copyrighted by the FSF. Every author who publishes his program under
"GNU General Public License version 2" has the same rights and independent
from what the FSF does or if future versions of the GPL are changed this
changes nothing in the rights of the authors if we violate the copyright
- when he wants to do so he can take us to court.
> Steve Langasek
cu
Adrian
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