Re: What your ballot should look like if you're in favor of releasing sarge
Brian Nelson writes:
> I think what Clint means be "valid" is that there is only one
> interpretation that is clear and enforceable, with no gray area--just
> consider *everything* in Debian to be software. Any other
> interpretation just leads to endless arguments. I don't think it's
> possible to draw a clear line between documentation and software.
This is bogus reasoning: The interpretation that everything in Debian
is software also led to arguments, and the main reason that people
stopped arguing over it was because the DFSG amendment made the issue
moot. Apparently those arguing for the more expansive view are
unsatisfied to have gotten their way: they want to rewrite history as
well.
Beyond that, there will always be gray areas, because licenses are
written in a natural language; they are not evaluated by identical
interpreters. Pretending that one interpretation of software
eliminates them is wrong. See the questions regarding free vs
non-free licenses on debian-legal since the DFSG GR passed:
questions still exist.
Michael
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