Re: Proposed statement wrt GNU FDL
Matthew Palmer <mjp16@ieee.uow.edu.au> writes:
> Why can't the DFSG be modified to accomodate the restrictions imposed by the
> FDL? After all, RMS endorses it, so why shouldn't you?
>
> The Debian Free Software Guidelines, combined with the Social Contract, are
> the basic tenets by which Debian is guided. The DFSG has stood well with
> both Debian Developers and the Free Software community for some time, and is
> widely regarded as the canonical statement of what makes free software Free
> (the Open Source Definition [I think] was based on the DFSG). As such,
> changing the DFSG would be widely seen as a major compromise of the
> principles the Debian project was founded on, and continues to be based on
> today, as well as a key definition of what it means for software to be Free.
>
> On a more practical note, changing the DFSG requires a General Resolution of
> Debian Developers, a large logistical task and not one which should be
> undertaken lightly.
>
> ---[END]---
>
> OK, so maybe it wasn't quite so simple after all.
>
> I'm not putting that up as the canonical form of the Q&A, but it reinforces
> to me why the GFDL needs fixing, and not us.
This says to me "It's hard to change the DFSG, and the DFSG is
respected." Neither of those seems like a good reason for the GFDL to
change. I think your argument could be much stronger if it included a
"because we're right" paragraph.
-Brian
--
Brian T. Sniffen bts@alum.mit.edu
http://www.evenmere.org/~bts/
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