Re: Clarifications
On 11 Jun 2000, Colin Walters wrote:
> >>>>> "Hamish" == Hamish Moffatt <hamish@debian.org> writes:
>
> >> "What is Debian?
> >>
> >> Debian is a mostly free operating system (OS) for your
> >> computer."
>
> Hamish> Not at all. The distribution contains only 'main' right
> Hamish> now, and that's not going to change. non-free and contrib
> Hamish> are add-ons which some of our users may choose to use.
>
> If Debian is truly a "free operating system for my computer", then I
> see no contradiction in ceasing to distribute non-free software from
> the Debian FTP sites.
(oh boy, more symantecs games)
Hold on now, seems like OS and Distribution are being considered
the same term. IMO, they are rather different. The distribution would be
that files distributed as the official Debian Distro (i.e., main). The OS
is just the core of it, not necessarily each and every
application. Example, if installed a fresh Debian box with main/
only everything, then I installed and starting playing Quake on it, would
this mean my OS is no longer "free"? No, the OS is free, the game Quake
is not, and is not the OS. I would say alot of stuff is the OS - the
kernel, glibc, bash, X, my window manager - but to say every application
is part of the OS is silly.
Therefore, in my eyes, to say Debian is a free OS while containing
a non-free directory is not contradictory.
Chris Pimlott
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