Fwd: Re: handling Mozilla with kid gloves [was: GUADEC report]
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Subject: Re: handling Mozilla with kid gloves [was: GUADEC report]
From: Nathanael Nerode <neroden@twcny.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 02:08:12 -0400
Newsgroup: gmane.linux.debian.devel.project,gmane.linux.debian.devel.legal
Colin Watson wrote:
> It's good that we study and question their licensing decisions. However,
> I think that in order for releases to be possible the release manager
> must have the freedom to decide "this is still an improvement over what
> we used to have"
That is always OK, as long as it's not an excuse for putting off changes due
to licensing problems forever.
> and release anyway while the discussion is pending, in
> cases where the debate is over what Debian finds acceptable and not over
> licence violations. Otherwise debian-legal has the entire project over a
> barrel: we must be in a situation where every important component is
> simultaneously not in question, and the mere existence of question in
> any important component is sufficient to stop us releasing, even when we
> haven't regressed.
Nobody has suggested this. As long as it's not an excuse to put off changes
due to licensing problems forever.
(The exception is non-distributability bugs. Legally, Debian is in serious
danger if copyrighted material which does not have clear permission to
distribute is distributed, particularly if we know about it. These
*should* hold the entire project over a barrel. Luckily they don't seem to
come up *too* often.)
> (Compare the policy on fails-to-build-from-source
> bugs: if it hasn't built on that architecture before, i.e. hasn't
> regressed, then it isn't release-critical.)
>
> The perfect is the enemy of the good.
>
> The flames that issue forth every time someone dares to downgrade
Well, duh, they *are* serious. Isn't that what 'sarge-ignore' was invented
for?
> or
> suggest temporarily ignoring a "foo is non-free" bug that came from
> -legal speak for themselves.
Temporary is fine -- as long as it isn't an excuse to ignore it forever.
All too often, it *is*.
--
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
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