Re: DEP-5: Updates from a general editing pass
Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> writes:
> Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com> writes:
>> My confusion might be coming from the phrase "have a problem with",
>> which in everyday language is mostly synonymous with "have a grudge
>> against".
> I agree with that interpretation. The phrase doesn't belong in that
> passage.
>> I would be more convinced by "for example, if they are running a
>> network-facing service and wish to avoid the Affero GPL", or more
>> simply, "for example, if they wish to avoid the Affero GPL".
> A broader question: why single out any license in the policy document? I
> think the point could be made just as well with “(for example, if they
> have specific reasons to avoid particular licenses)”.
This language has, so far as I know, been there for some time, and I just
preserved it while moving it about. I considered replacing it with a
comment about finding software with an advertising clause, but then
decided not to make that sort of change at the last minute.
The reason why Affero is an interesting case is that it represents two
separate reasons why people may want to avoid a license: it's considered
by many people (although not by Debian as a whole) to be non-free, and it
places restrictions on how the software can be used that have similar
practical problems as the BSD advertising clause.
But while in general I'm a big fan of giving as many examples as possible,
giving an example here necessarily involves making a controversial
statement, so maybe it would be best to do without an example, just say
that this format provides a way for people to detect software under
particular licenses, and leave it at that.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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