Re: NEW handling: About rejects, and kernels

[Thomas Bushnell BSG <tb@becket.net>]

Hamish Moffatt <hamish@debian.org> writes:

>> > Why? How does it benefit Debian if our users have to obtain firmware
>> > from somewhere else to make their hardware work? How does it benefit
>> > freedom if we imply that hardware with on-chip firmware is preferable?
>> 
>> The DFSG says that's the wrong question to ask.  The question to ask
>
> Right, but how's that relevant when we're discussing whether the DFSG is
> reasonable to apply to firmware?
>
> Wrong question or not, why don't you answer the question?

It benefits freedom if we give special things to hardware
manufacturers that distribute free software: things like bugfixes,
support, and free distribution resources.

What is missing here is any statement of why this looser standard
should not simply apply to *all* software.  In other words, "How does
it benefit Debian if our users have to get their non-free
documentation reader from somewhere else? Shouldn't we distribute it
ourselves?"

What I'm looking for is:

"XXX is the difference between firmware and software, which is a
difference in the things themselves and not just in this or that
changable social fact about the nasty practices of the authors, and
which logically implies a difference in what kinds of freedom are
useful."

Thomas