Re: volatile.debian.org: Does Debian still support it?
On Mon, 01 Oct 2007, Piotr Roszatycki wrote:
> 2007/10/1, Hamish Moffatt <hamish@debian.org>:
> > > I think it is because the nimbus font is released on GPL license, so
> > > the source code is required. The Olson DB is public domain so its
> > > license does not exact the shipping of source form.
> >
> > The DFSG requires us to ship the source though. Clause 2.
>
> I read: "2. The program must include source code". The Olson DB is the
> data, not the source code. The source code is provided as a Perl
> module.
Considering that the "data" is what is used to generate the "source
code"; this seems to be a rather strained argument to me. [And even
then, data is clearly a superset of sourcecode.]
When the only sane way to generate and/or modify things like
DateTime/TimeZone/America/Los_Angeles.pm is to modify northamerica
from the Olson database, and then rebuild, it's clear that the Olson
database, even if it is merely a compendium of fact, is the source
code used to generate the perl module.
[That said, I personally don't particularly care whether this perl
module includes the source itself, so long as there's a clear
dependency on the olson database so that whenever we distribute it
we're also distributing the olson database.]
Don Armstrong
--
"The question of whether computers can think is like the question of
whether submarines can swim."
-- Edsgar Dijkstra
http://www.donarmstrong.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu
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