Re: Final Draft: Interpretive Guideline regarding DFSG clause 3
Mark Rafn <dagon@dagon.net> writes:
> FWIW, if I can't reuse a sentence from the Debian manifesto, I don't think
> it belongs in Debian either.
Old BSD software (including stuff currently in Debian) requires the
addition of an advertising sentence in many circumstances. The GPL
requires the inclusion of a change log notification and a no-warranty
statement, which are "invariant sections" in that you aren't allowed
to delete them.
The rule "any amount of invariant text no matter how small makes a
thing non-free" would actually exclude virtually *ALL* of the Debian
archive.
Branden recognizes that we must permit "license texts" to include
invariant sections, but why should that allow the noxious BSD
advertising clause? The sentences it requires are invariant sections
which are *not* part of the license. Similarly, the required
no-warranty statements and change logs required by the GPL.
Nearly everything in Debian contains "invariant text", the question
is, when and how is invariant text a problem?
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