Re: Social Contract GR's Affect on sarge

[Michael Poole <mdpoole@troilus.org>]

Joey Hess writes:

> Michael Poole wrote:
>> The entire point of the recent GR was that some Debian developers and
>> users use "software" as the rest of the world uses the word, and
>> exclude things like fonts, images, or statistical data.
>
> When I walk into a store and want to purchase a copy of windows, mac
> os, something to do my taxes, or an electronic encyclopedia, I go to the
> "software" section. I do not go to the "collections of software,
> documentation, fonts, images, sounds, and data" section.

In my local grocery store, the aisle that says "Soda" also contains,
without similar advertisement, bottled water and various outdoor
implements like hand rakes.  That does not justify calling a hand rake
(or even bottled water) "soda."

If you want inapt or oversimplified analogies, I already have plenty.

See also the distinction in copyright law (statute, case and treaty)
between original works, compilations, and databases.

Michael