Re: Non-free files in source packages?
Henning Makholm <henning@makholm.net> writes:
>> Do Debian consider it problematic if source packages include, say,
>> RFCs, which, if I understand correctly, are considered non-free by
>> Debian otherwise?
>
> Yes. As soon as such cases are found by somebody who knows and cares,
> bugs will be filed, and the maintainer will have to remove those data
> from the .orig.tar.gz we distribute.
Post-sarge, I assume?
>> Otherwise, how do Debian handle the situation when the RFC is parsed,
>> and become part of the implementation?
>
> Such software is not DFSG-free and will have to go into non-free at
> best...
>
>> In other words, where the GPL require that you distribute the RFC
>> because it is the preferred "source code" to make modifications to.
>
> ... but if the rest of the code is GPL-licensed, the net result is
> that the package cannot be legally distributed at all (which is
> completely independent of the DFSG).
This interpretation appears to be the consensus in the free software
world. Thanks for re-inforcing it.
Thanks,
Simon
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