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Debian package selection depending on user location/belief/society(was bug #283578 hot-babe (AGAIN :-)))



Hello all,

I am just wondering if it is not the responabilty of the actual Debian user not to 
violate his local laws. Of course it would help if a Debian developer does care to
take notion of what the (Debian) community thinks about certain software.
I do not like the idea of censoring in Debian, I however appeal to the common sense
of a DD to not package "controversial" software. It would not be good for Debian 
if DD's are going to act on their own, they should consider the opinions of other DD's.

A DD has always the choice to package it and release it on his own without including
it in Debian proper. This way the Debian user has the choice to use those "unofficial"
packages into his favourite distribution, but cannot hold the Debian community 
responsible.

IMHO also I would rather make releasing sarge, and adopting orphaned packages a priority
above adding new packages, certainly if they do not add any tangible functionality, and can
be considered offending to certain people. Even if it does not seem offending to me, I should
be able to comprehend that in other regions, religions, or because of any other social influence
people might object. As long as we try to respect as much as possible the indivual user or DD
we should not be afraid of controversy. Debian already does that by apply-ing a very strict
license. Debian US is an exception and is something that we will hopefully be able to abolish 
one day. And nothing garantees us that there are no US citizens making non-US Debian 
installations. So extreme localisations seems to me as a waste of time and effort. What will be 
next? Debian-christian, Debian-islamic, Debian-porn, Debian-falun-gong, Debian-Kiddy, 
Debian-veggie...?

We should be as universal as possible, and this is something that can only be reached if the
opinion of the DD's is respected by the Debian community, and when the Debian community
respects each indivual DD and user.

Regards,

Philippe
-- 
| Philippe De Swert 
|
| Stag developer http://stag.mind.be/
| Emdebian developer: http://www.emdebian.org
|
| Please do not send me documents in a closed format. (*.doc,*.xls,*.ppt)
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| Why? http://pallieter.is-a-geek.org:7832/~johan/word/english/   

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