Re: GFDL freedoms
Thibaut VARENE <varenet@esiee.fr> wrote:
> Matthew Garret wrote:
>> I believe that for software to be free, it must be possible to
>> distribute it in DRM-encumbered formats, providing an unencumbered
>> version is also available. Do you disagree? If so, why?
>
> Of course I don't. This looks plainly sensible to me. And it would
> (but that's only my opinion) probably be sensible to any tribunal, if
> somebody wanted to sue someone for distributing GFDL'd (in its present
> form) content on encumbered format, whilst said content is also
> available "clean" elsewhere. Yet again, IANAL, these are just plain
> guesses. We need a lawyer to tell us.
"You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
or further copying of the copies you make or distribute."
That's not just "some of the copies", it's all of them. Making a
DRM-encumbered copy and distributing it to someone obstructs the reading
or further copying of *that copy*, even if you provide another copy
which is unencumbered. This is something that's ridiculously easy to fix
in the license, and it's something that we should ask to be fixed.
We could take the attitude that it's unlikely that anyone will sue us
over it. However, free software only works if people follow licenses
(or, alternatively, if there are lots of lawsuits). "This license isn't
really free, but you probably won't get sued over it" isn't a good
argument - people would be likely to start using it against us
instead...
> eg: In my previous example, what then could have been wrong in me
> telling the guy that knocks at the door: "go get it on the web"? What
> then could be wrong in distributing Wikipedia on PSP given it's
> available on the web as well?
Ok. Another question. Should Debian follow the licenses in software we
use, even if we probably won't be sued if we don't?
> Side question: do you agree that the world isn't Manichean and that
> the answer to our issue can't be "black or white"?
Oh, absolutely. There are all kinds of shades of grey - the problem with
them is that we only have a black and white (free or non-free) way of
dealing with them. At the end of the day, all the shades of grey have to
be divided into those two catagories.
--
Matthew Garrett | mjg59-chiark.mail.debian.project@srcf.ucam.org
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