Re: Is public domain software DFSG-compliant?
> > "Truly free software is always free. Software that is placed in the
> > public domain can be snapped up and put into non-free programs.
> > Any improvements then made are lost to society. To stay free,
> > software must be copyrighted and licensed."
With some perhaps minor changes, this would make sense for our site.
A possibly relevant point here is that while we maintain software
under licenses that allow software to be relicensed in a non-free
fashion, we will not maintain software instances or changes which have
been relicensed in this fashion.
Another probably relevant point is that we're sceptical about
distributing unlicensed software. In some cases it might be in the
public domain, but we really need someone claiming that it's in the
public domain before the rest of us can treat it that way.
In other words, while the treatment of the topic might bother some
people, this does cover valid issues.
Ultimately: there is a spectrum of freeness. We do draw a line which
accepts software less free than what this paragraph is talking about,
but I don't think it's incorrect to acknowledge that that spectrum
exists.
I'd hate to see this discarded entirely, or replaced with something
more verbose which conveys less information.
--
Raul
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