Bug#594542: debian-policy: add descriptions for main, contrib, and non-free archive areas
CJ Fearnley <cjf@CJFearnley.com> writes:
> Especially since the main, contrib, and non-free archive areas are not
> described anywhere else (as far as I can tell), it would be helpful if
> some descriptive text were added to explain the intent of policy. I
> suggest the following in the hopes that others will flesh out the
> descriptions to be more accurate and complete than my first cut:
> 2.2.1 The main archive area
> The main archive area is where the core of the Debian GNU/Linux system
> lives. All of the software in main can stand alone as a fully
> operational system without any software from contrib or non-free. The
> software included in main is vetted to ensure compliance with policy and
> the DFSG. In addition it does not depend on any software outside main,
> it is believed to be wholly unencumbered by patents, and is believed to
> have no legal encumbrances that could affect users or our ftp archive
> operators.
I think we need to say explicitly that only main is part of the Debian
distribution. I'd also rather not add any mentions of legal vetting other
than referring to the DFSG, since this is a bit of a minefield. How
about:
The main archive area comprises the Debian GNU/Linux distribution;
only the packages in this area are considered part of the
distribution. None of the packages in the main archive area require
software outside of that area to function.
and then going on to the language already there, which already requires
that all the packages comply with the DFSG.
> 2.2.2 The contrib archive area
> The contrib archive area is where fully policy compliant and DFSG free
> software is put that depends on or recommends non-free software or
> software that is otherwise unavailable within Debian. Contrib software
> is believed to be wholly unencumbered by patents and to have no legal
> encumbrances that could affect users or our ftp archives. However,
> contrib software usually requires using either non-free software or
> software that is otherwise not available or not policy compliant.
The contrib archive area contains supplemental packages intended to
work with the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, but which require
software outside of the distribution to either build or function.
Apart from this requirement, all software in the contrib archive area
complies with the DFSG and with the policy requirements in this
manual.
> 2.2.3 The non-free archive area
> The non-free archive area is where software that is freely
> redistributable, but not fully policy compliant (which can be as simple
> as failing the software build requirements) or not DFSG free, or is
> encumbered by patents or is affected by other legal issues that could
> affect our users or our ftp infrastructure.
The non-free archive area contains supplemental packages intended to
work with the Debian GNU/Linux distribution that do not comply with
the DFSG or have other problems that make their distribution
problematic. They may not comply with all of the policy requirements
in this manual due to restrictions on modifications or other
limitations.
I don't think any of the above changes anything normative, so once we
reach consensus on the wording I can go ahead and apply this.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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