Re: Is this license DFSG free?
On Saturday 11 June 2005 03:21 pm, Anthony DeRobertis wrote:
> Sean Kellogg wrote:
> > Well now, this strikes me as a problem.... from a political science
> > perspective (my undergrad degree). Debian-legal, a self-appointed group
> > of various legal, political, an philosophical stripes, is making
> > substantive policy decisions based on thin air?
>
> No. Debian-legal does not make policy decisions. Debian-legal advises
> the ftp-masters, who make the actual policy decisions (and, it does seem
> that they generally agree with our advice).
> The ftp-masters are appointees of the elected project leader.
Well, that's certainly a great deal better, structurally. I guess I've never
really seen any ftp-master discussion on this list... but then again, I
don't know their names, so I wouldn't really know who was who. But at least
there is some amount of accountability.
The fact remains that it is far too easy to criticize d-l if operations
continue under this system. I've been on this list for almost 4 years, with
special attention ever since I entered law school... I know the sort of
round-and-round fights that go on here that later get presented in FAQ's as
consensus.
As I said, I've never actually heard an ftp-master agree or disagree with the
list... but if I were in their position I would have a hard time accepting
advice from a forum who can't point to language that backs their claim.
> [And, FYI, if you check the mailing list's archives, you'll find that
> the currenty project leader helped in drafting some of those tests. So,
> I suppose, we could probably ask him to give those tests the project's
> official blessing. However, there does not seem to be any need to do so.]
Yes, I know that he was involved with developing these tests, and I know that
he takes a very expansive view of the DFSG. My point is not to impinge on
the good leader's opinions... only to note that a poor organizational
structure can still come to good decisions. More importantly, the DPL does
not have authority to state that these tests are extensions of the DFSG. I
may not be a DD, but I have read the Constitution :)
-Sean
--
Sean Kellogg
2nd Year - University of Washington School of Law
GPSS Senator - Student Bar Association
Editor-at-Large - National ACS Blog [http://www.acsblog.org]
w: http://probonogeek.blogspot.com
So, let go
...Jump in
...Oh well, what you waiting for?
...it's all right
...'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown
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