Re: Minified javascript files

[Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>]

Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

> I don't think this should be fixed by changing the DFSG. The DFSG is
> correct - sourceless minified js files, GFDL docs with invariant
> sections, gimp-generated pixmaps without the original gimp source,
> etc., are all Not Free Software.

I agree entirely with that paragraph.

> The main objection, it seems to me, to the presence of these files is
> that removing them is the only sure way to make sure that the actual
> package build doesn't use them somehow.

That is one which has been discussed. I don't think it's the most
compelling one though.

It seems to me that the primary objection to the presence of these files
without source is that they are then distributed as part of Debian, in
the source package. That violates our social contract.

This objection is unrelated to what our build process does with those
files, or even whether the build process ignores them. By remaining in
the source package, we are distributing them as part of Debian.

Upholding the social contract – that Debian, as distributed by the
Debian project, remain 100% free – is sufficient reason to remove these
files without corresponding source.

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Ben Finney