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Re: Request to use DFSG as a model document

Hi. So I had Contacted Bruce Perens because he was the original author of both of those and as per his guidance, he said, as long as I’m just using the original, I should cite it, which that’s fine.

But if I wanted to modify it as a formality, I should contact the Debian folks.

The original document (Dfsg) announce states that it can be used as a model for other distros and projects, and that “We will gladly grant permission for any such us” Let me get you the full text Of that, announce below.
We hope that other software projects,
including other Linux distributions, will use this document as a model.
We will gladly grant permission for any such use.
So I asked Bruce… 
Does this statement mean we can simply use the document as a model with no further due diligence or explicit permissions? 

Since Bruce was the original Author, I reached out to him first, but he said he has been outside Debian project a while:

Bruce Perens: 
If you're not going to modify it, I think you could just cite the document at its current location. If you are, just for formality sake you should ask the Debian folks. I've not been on that project for some years - just too many things to do. 

Considering the text in the announcement, it seems that the original document is an open one, but as a formality, I am letting you know I want to modify just the name and waiting for that gladly granting of permissions as per the original intent!

:)



On Mon, Mar 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM Michael Stehmann <michael@canzeley.de> wrote:
Hello,

IMO there is a derived work of the DFSG:

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://opensource.org/osd__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!YBK4_x9ztccP0OAJPH1co8Ve89r4WSeMiqJjCzqxu1GTY6-xWm6egy9tx-70Ljcg2FyZrjaWSe7EdN6vx7FX_qQ$

See:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Initiative*History__;Iw!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!YBK4_x9ztccP0OAJPH1co8Ve89r4WSeMiqJjCzqxu1GTY6-xWm6egy9tx-70Ljcg2FyZrjaWSe7EdN6v0Ddq6cQ$

Disclaimer: I am not a member of the Debian Project but interested in
Free Software Licences.

Kind regards
Michael

Am 23.03.25 um 19:31 schrieb Francesco Poli:
> On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 04:34:43 -0400 Marcia Wilbur wrote:
>
>> Hi. My name is Marcia Wilbur.
>
> Hello Marcia,
>
> [...]
>> I would like to use the Debian Free Software Guidelines document as a model
>> for my projects as well as promote DFSG or a derivative as a model for
>> other projects.
>>
>> At this point in time, the only thing I would modify is the name.
>
> Disclaimer: I cannot speak for the Debian Project, since I have not
> been delegated to do so; I am just a Debian contributor (a Debian
> Maintainer, to be precise) who has been a regular on the debian-legal
> mailing list for quite a long time.
>
> That said, my own personal opinion is that what you would like to do
> should not be a problem, from a conceptual standpoint.
>
> The only trouble I see is that the document that includes the Debian
> Social Contract and the Debian Free Software Guidelines still seems to
> be under the non-free OPL license, as there is no evidence that it has
> been re-licensed (yet)...
> Please take a look at bug [#614497] for more detailed information about
> this (long) story.
>
> [#614497]: <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://bugs.debian.org/614497__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!YBK4_x9ztccP0OAJPH1co8Ve89r4WSeMiqJjCzqxu1GTY6-xWm6egy9tx-70Ljcg2FyZrjaWSe7EdN6vqCWeDEw$ >
>
> I admit that this looks like sad news, but... it is what it is...  :-(
>

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