On Mon, Oct 07, 2002 at 11:08:34AM -0600, Jason Gunthorpe wrote:
> I mean really, what if Larry's Laywer gets upset that Mr Hansen's
> conversation has been make public? He sent it to you, someone who claims
> to be representing Debian _and you published it_.
>
> Debian is now involved in this dispute, and I think that is entirely
> inappropriate.
I don't think it's at all inappropriate. What I do think is inappropriate
is that Debian characteristically DOES NOTHING when these kinds of events
present themselves. What exactly does this project stand for anyway? If
I believe the propaganda, Debian stands for software freedom and the
freedom to choose which software is most appropriate for your needs.
There are certainly an awful lot of attacks on one freedom or the other
from a variety of sources. We don't need to get involved with every
little bad license or anti-free-software company, certainly, but we do
need to defend our own interests.
Currently, we aren't doing that. In fact, we're not even trying. Debian
does not exist inside a vacuum. Frankly, with some of the crackpot plans
put forth by some companies (legally mandated DRM hardware, Palladium,
etc), Debian could find itself unable to exist at all. We need to start
defending our interests while we have interests to defend.
You want to call this a slippery slope argument? Let's review some of the
chilling factors we have seen in the past two years:
1. EULAs hostile to free software
2. Hardware with EULAs
3. Lobbying to mandate hardware which rejects unlicensed software/content
4. A push for a centrally controlled license structure
5. Laws such as the DMCA
6. Content providers claiming free software "fosters theft", etc
What has Debian done to keep things from reaching this point? To keep
matters from getting worse? Not a damned thing, on both counts. If
certain international interest groups have their way, how will the
equation read for Debian? Care to do the math? I'd prefer to change a
few variables before we see the proof.
--
Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@bluecherry.net> I swallowed your goldfish
<toor> netgod: what do you have in your kernel??? The compiled source for
driving a space shuttle???
<Spoo> time to make a zip drive your floppy drive then. if the kernel
doesn fit on that, the kernel is an AI
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