Re: generated source files, GPL and DFSG
Glenn Maynard <glenn@zewt.org> wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 23, 2005 at 01:32:37AM +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:
>> So if I write C with comments and then remove them that's not DFSG free,
>> but if I fail to add them in the first place then it's fine for main?
>
> Yes; as noble a goal as is writing good, well-commented code, that's not
> what the DFSG is about; it's about free software, including source code.
> If you write a well-commented program, and remove the comments in the copy
> you give me, you havn't given me the source at all. Why should Debian
> consider obfuscated code sufficient for DFSG#2?
So say we have two drivers for a piece of hardware. One is written
without comments. One was originally commented, but the comments have
been removed. Both provide the same amount of information about how they
work. Both are released under the same license. Both provide exactly the
same freedoms to our users.
How is one of these free and the other non-free?
--
Matthew Garrett | mjg59-chiark.mail.debian.legal@srcf.ucam.org
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