On Tue, Mar 03, 2009 at 08:58:34PM +0100, Joerg Schilling wrote: > Bill Unruh <unruh@physics.ubc.ca> wrote: > > > > Attacks from Debian against the cdrtools project caused the license to be > > > changed. Debian now needs to live with this change. > > > > Unfortunately it is not Debian who have to live with it, but the > > users around the world. Debian is not being particularly harmed, but > > the users are. They are being forced to use programs which are not > > keeping up with modern hardware etc. I understand that there is a > > lot of ill will between Schilling and Debian, but the only ones > > getting hurt in the crossfire are innocent civilians. And they have > > no idea why they are being hurt. This thread started with such a cry > > of pain. > > As I mentioned before, the attacks have been initated by Eduard Bloch > who is no longer active in Debian. It would be a nice gesture if > Debian would through him out. As he is currently already in a > suspended status, this would be something that is not hard to do by > Debian but it would show a sign of will. There is not a chance in hell that Eduard is going to be thrown out. However, I'm very close to requesting that the list admins ban you from our mailinglists. In Debian, we make the rules, not you. If you license your software the way you have, we will not distribute it, and that is non-negotiable. We can legally fork software that has been released under the GPL; and you cannot retroactively change a license on a piece of software that you have released under the GPL. You can make people use a different name if you please, and you can require that your name is not used publically on the fork; but once you have put the code out there under the terms of the GPL, people can use it, modify it, and redistribute it under those terms. This is exactly the right that the cdrkit people have exercised, and there is nothing you can do about that. Now, it occurs to me that you have three options: - relicense your software so that it is acceptable to Debian. It does not matter in this context whether you think Debian is right or not; we will do as we please, not as you do. If *you* want cdrecord in Debian, then *you* should make that possible, not us. - not care about the whole thing and shut up. - go fuck yourself. Debian does not care enough about cdrecord to put up with you; we have plenty of other software that works for most people. I guess it could be nice to the subset of our users who, like Michelle, have a rather high bunch of somewhat exotic hardware, but most of our users are not in that case, and while they are one of their main priorities, there is a priority of life that says 'nobody should have to deal with arrogant self-observed morons'. I'll casually mention that you'll also note that there is no law, in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world, that says 'Debian must distribute cdrecord'. Kind regards, -- <Lo-lan-do> Home is where you have to wash the dishes. -- #debian-devel, Freenode, 2004-09-22
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