Re: A possible approach in "solving" the FDL problem
On Fri, 15 Aug 2003, Bernhard R. Link wrote:
>What I was trying to say is: It does not matter at all how world is.
>Some legislations may use the word software for something, but it does
>not matter at all. And it does not matter which meaning we choose.
>(As it does not matter if all newspapers of this world call something
> murder, a court has to decide based on the definition given in law
> and law's commentaries if it is murder or manslaughter)
Errr. No, really.
There are plenty of cases, when courts make decisions, based
not solely on reliable facts and exact terms of law, but on the
pressure of public opinion, misunderstanding of technical terms,
plain ignorance. There are even more cases when defendant fail to
defend himself just because he does not know he can. Court, as a
rule, does not do any research by its own initiative. It relies on
the arguments, presented by sides.
And for Someone will be much harder to prove that document X
is not a software, if Someone two months earlier call X a software,
say, in the mailing list. :-)
>>>And just saying all digital data is software is the easiest and
>>>most elegant meaning in this context.
>>
>> In which context?
>In the context of which definiton for the word "Software" in the
>DFSG and other agreements within Debian is the reasonable.
With assumption that DFSG given by gods, exists in the
vacuum and discussed by cyborgs? Yes.
But assumption is false.
>>>It think the most important difference between computer programs
>>>and non-computer-programs here in Germany is the ability to
>>>protect non-human-generated pieced (like compiled computer
>>>programs). Everything
>>
>> Printed books copyrighted from the very beginning of
>> copyright regime.
>What is copyrightable in a printed book?
Text :-)
This text not written by human, it printed by machine, but
it still copyrighted.
Copyrightable form of expression for a program is not a set
of symbols, as for literary works, but set of instrustions for
computer. This set, basically, the same both for source and compiled
form of program. As far as we can talk about instructios in source.
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