Re: Social Contract GR's Affect on sarge
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> writes:
> Destroying the essence of Debian as a matter of convenience is
> a far worse slap in the face of everyone who has slaved to make
> Debian what it is, and the whole Debian community that has come to
> depend on Debian being what it is now.
What is the essence of Debian? The Social Contract? I'm not sure.
Most users do not care much about the Social Contract (and apparently,
most developers, either). If Debian goes ahead in the current
direction, which involves
- the ongoing support of non-free software, by almost all technical
means available to Debian, and still claiming that this software
is not "part of Debian", and
- the strange practice of labeling some non-programs as "non-free
software" and claim that they no longer fulfill the requirements
of the DFSG (which is hard to understand for anyone who doesn't
take part in the convoluted discussions), and
- the completely arbitrary approach to software patents which comes
close to complete randomness,
it will no longer be the Free Software Lighthouse which helps to shape
the users' view what free software is in practice. It will lose on
technical grounds, too.
In the past, Debian gained considerable strength by the decision to
make a compromise between free and non-free software. Now, Debian
tries very hard to ridicule the principles behind free software.
--
Current mail filters: many dial-up/DSL/cable modem hosts, and the
following domains: atlas.cz, bigpond.com, di-ve.com, netscape.net,
postino.it, tiscali.co.uk, tiscali.cz, tiscali.it, voila.fr.
Reply to: