Re: DRAFT: debian-legal summary of the QPL
Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> Walter Landry <wlandry@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> >Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> >> The problem is that it's not clear what the dissident test was made for.
> >
> >I think one purpose is to clarify the kinds of uses that DFSG #6
> >covers. If you can't even use it in those kinds of situations, then
> >you don't have a free license.
>
> Surely it's not the license that restricts the activities of the
> dissident, it's the local authorities? If my government decrees that
> anyone producing works that oblige source to be distributed with
> binaries will be shot, that doesn't mean that the GPL discriminates
> against a field of endeavour.
The obvious difference is that there are no governments that have such
laws, while there are plenty of real world scenarios where privacy is
beneficial. The dissident test is merely a reasonable extreme case
where that comes into play.
Regards,
Walter Landry
wlandry@ucsd.edu
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