Francesco Paolo Lovergine wrote:
Ah that's an interesting point. TCP/IP is a standard, so it's non free... Maybe all implementation of that should go in contrib so, because they 'depend' on a piece of 'something' which is not free. So, we have to move the whole kernel there, and oh sure, libc too... Probably someone should clarify me better what's 'depending' means, why a document which define a standard is non-free but a program based on that standard is not in contrib? Who wrote that program did read the standard and use it to write the program. So, the program indeed _depends_ on that standard. And the standard IS the document which describe it. So there's a direct dependency. And POSIX? Mmmm...
I'd say that in many cases the standard itself is free, even if a particular text describing it isn't. Various standards documents (RFCs, for instance) describe free standards, but the text they use to do so is copyrighted, and the license to the text (not the standard itself, but the text describing it) is non-free. The standard itself (the ideas, specifications, and algorithms) can, however, be freely implemented and modified.
For example, if you wanted to make a new protocol for implementing ICMP ping with specially-trained salmon, you couldn't re-use any of the text of RFC1149, though you could freely incorporate the ideas and algorithms described in the RFC into your protocol.
There are, however, standards that are backed by patents and/or trademarks, and not freely implementable (postscript, mp3, pdf, etc.), the status of which is a huge can of worms (not helped by software patent laws that very from nation to nation). To my knowledge (and this is not something I understand very well), Debian's guideline is that a program using/implementing a patent-encumbered standard is not allowed in main, unless the owner of the patent/trademark promises not to sue developers of free software. Fraunhofer has no problem with mp3 decoders (so mpg321 is in main), but hasn't ruled out going after mp3 encoders (so LAME isn't).
-- Lewis Jardine IANAL IANADD