Re: inappropriate racist and other offensive material
>>"Evan" == Evan Prodromou <evan@debian.org> writes:
Evan> Not to mention that it's a subjective decision by this organization
Evan> whether or not to deliver -- with the Debian logo prominently
Evan> displayed -- an operating system featuring the Bible, anarchist texts,
Evan> and software written by dumb kids who think racist jokes are a laff
Evan> riot.
This is not as subjective as you think. By refusing to take a
moral stance, and decide who is holier than who else, we have decided
to become instead value system agnostic, and that is, in my opinon,
the only feasible, scalable, approach to take on credos and moral
turpitude. We have a set of criteria for selecting packages in
Debian, and we offer our users a choice. *The End User* makes the
moral determination, on an individual basis.
Evan> It seems to me that our group has kind of gelled around the idea that
Evan> no software or content is sufficiently controversial that we'd pull it
Evan> from Debian. That seems like a pretty amazing view -- that there is an
Evan> essential Right To Publish for anyone involved in this project.
No. I think we have codified our criteria for selecting
software that gets into debian. We call it the DFSG. Beyond DFSG
compliance, the only other requirement is that someone does the work
of packaging it up.
It does imply that we have some modicum of trust in the fellowship.
Evan> This is different from having any freedom of expression, mind
Evan> you. What we're talking about here is a right to put some
Evan> information or software out, and have it published all over the
Evan> world with the Debian name on it.
That is what collaborative creation of a distribution entails, yes.
Evan> I'm not saying I disagree with this idea, but I can't really
Evan> think of too many other software development or publishing
Evan> organizations or any other groups where this is the case. It's
Most organizations you see have either a commercial agenda, or
are otherwise associated with some organization with a agenda of its
own. The Free software movement is one of the few that has freedom,
rather than profit or mind share as a goal.
Evan> pretty amazing, when you get down to it. And I think it's
Evan> pretty cool how people here are so devoted to the structure of
Evan> the organization, and the Free nature of the product(s) we put
Evan> out.
I would emphasize that freedom is the center point.
manoj
--
Just remember: when you go to court, you are trusting your fate to
twelve people that weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty!
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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