Re: webmin license
John Galt <galt@inconnu.isu.edu> writes:
> Here's the general case of this question: should a license that
> restricts one port of Debian (ie Debian GNU/Linux, Debian GNU/Hurd,
> or Debian *BSD ATM) into placing it into non-free consequently
> restrict all ports, despite the DFSG-freeness of the licensure in
> their case?
The DFSG is device-independent. Something cannot be DFSG-free on one
architecture without being DFSG-free on all. The DFSG requires that
I'm allowed to compile, distribute and run the program in *any*
environment I care to port it to. If the license does not allow that
it is not DFSG-free anywhere.
This is not just dead formalism, it is an essential part of freedom.
Free software should not attempt tie the user to a specific class of
hardware or operating systems. When I decide to base my business on
free software I expect to be able to take that free software with
me when the machines I have become obsolete and I invest in new ones.
--
Henning Makholm "What the hedgehog sang is not evidence."
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