Re: firmware is just data. we need to decide our rules for data.
Hi,
[... source is the earliest format we can use to get the desired result
using free tools ...]
> If something can become non-free because someone writes a free editor to
> edit it, I do not think it was free in the first place.
"As free as it would be useful for us", IMHO.
> > 2. "Where 'source code' is a format of the data such that some Debian
> > developer is capable of modifying, understanding, extending or fixing
> > its behaviour using this data at a level comparable to the original
> > author and such modifications must be allowed."
> > i.e. we must be able to fix bugs or alter the behaviour when needed.
> > For a font this probably means we can fix broken chars, maybe clone and
> > add new chars etc. Some developer having an appropriate tool will be
> > able to do that. Same goes for images.
>
> The ability to fix bugs is in no way a good measure to see whether you
> have source. With the right knowledge, one can fix bugs with a
> disassembler and the binary of a program; that doesn't mean the source
> is available.
If nobody has the source any more, this is a free as it can get.
Otherwise the clause "at a level comparable to the original author"
comes into play.
Also as long as we have a developer who is actually willing to admit
that he can do that, this is "source enough" for me.
Greetings,
Erich Schubert
--
erich@(vitavonni.de|debian.org) -- GPG Key ID: 4B3A135C (o_
A man doesn't know what he knows until he knows what he doesn't know. //\
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begegnen sich, ehe sie sich trennen. --- Clemens von Brentano
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