On Thu, Feb 02, 2006 at 05:24:26AM -0500, Glenn Maynard wrote: Glenn> On Thu, Feb 02, 2006 at 01:49:59PM +0400, olive wrote: Glenn> > You seem to say that if a given license has conditions that would best Glenn> > be removed to benefit free software then the license is by itself Glenn> > non-free. But Debian does not choose the license of a given software; it Glenn> > just choose if will include the software in main or not. The question Glenn> > becomes if it would benefit free software if the given software is Glenn> > included. With this point of view including GFDL manuals in Debian would Glenn> > benefit free software since rejecting it would make a lot of free Glenn> > software unusable. The GNU project have accepted non ideal free Glenn> > software license on the same basis (for example the TeX license). Glenn> Glenn> The choice of whether to include a work is based on whether its license Glenn> is free. The definition of "free" is based, ultimately, on whether it Glenn> benefits free software or not. Well, in my opinion, you're stretching it. Non-copylefted licenses don't benefit free software as much as copylefted ones, yet they are still as free as free licenses get. Glenn> You're trying to bypass the process that Glenn> determines that, by handwaving wildly and saying "but anyway, who cares, Glenn> it would benefit free software to make an exception for this thing and Glenn> that thing". Sorry, but you're just not presenting any arguments that Glenn> I think are worth spending further time debating. If anyone else thinks Glenn> this has substance worth discussion, they're free to jump in, Glenn> of course. Actually, you are kind of handwaving too, since you eluded the copylefted/non-copylefted example before. I'm curious as to how you deal with that. Again, I'm not saying this partcularly aboutthe GFDL case, but more as a general statement against the idea that freeness is only achieved by being the most helpful for free software possible. I believe the threshold of freeness is lower than that. Again, "free" is not (and should not) be synonymous with "perfect".
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