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Re: Inconsistencies in our approach



John Goerzen wrote:

>Both are really poor.  I think that it's very hard to call the King James
>Bible software, even if it is encoded in ASCII stored on someone's hard
>drive.

And (again, sorry to keep whipping a dead horse) what is a copy of the
King James Bible that's linked into a reader application?

> * How do I make sure I distribute the source code?  What IS the source
>   code?  Is it the TIFFs pre-OCR?  Is it the OCR'd text?  (These first two
>   points speak to DFSG #2 -- how can you distribute something in source code 
>   and compiled form when it has neither)

The preferred form of modification for a textual version of the bible is
plainly the text, and for a graphical version the images. A picture and
a full description of a picture may contain exactly the same
information, but they're plainly different things with different aims
and so in each case would represent the "source".

>The fact that a point has been made does not mean that it is correct.  For
>instance, once again, where is the source code and executable?  Where is our
>compelling interest in being able to distribute a modified RFC822?

If I modify RFC822 (or 2822, or whatever) to describe an SMTP-based
mechanism for washing machine control and accompany it with an
application that speaks my modified protocol, I think there's a
compelling interest in being able to distribute it.

-- 
Matthew Garrett | mjg59-chiark.mail.debian.legal@srcf.ucam.org



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