Re: GFDL freedoms
On Thu, Apr 14, 2005 at 05:50:08PM +0100, Andrew Suffield wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 14, 2005 at 03:11:10PM +0100, Matthew Wilcox wrote:
> > On Thu, Apr 14, 2005 at 02:41:18AM +0100, MJ Ray wrote:
> > > > http://people.debian.org/~willy/dfdocg-0.4.txt
> > >
> > > This inherits its definition of Transparent from the FDL, but
> > > some DDs consider that awkward. Is there a better one?
> >
> > I wasn't aware that people had expressed problems with the definition
> > of Transparent; it looked pretty good to me.
>
> Openoffice documents are classified as Opaque, thusly cannot be
> distributed under the GFDL nor included in Debian under this
> scheme. Nor can word documents, etc...
Ah, because they aren't editable in a "generic text editor"? Fair point.
Mako, is this something that's been raised with the FSF in your ctte?
Andrew, do you want Debian to be able to distribute Word docs?
> > > This conflicts with "Derived Works" by denying
> > > some modifications (and do most understand that as "permit
> > > all reasonable modifications"?)
> >
> > I think it's reasonable to deny some modifications. "Derived Works"
> > doesn't say "must allow any modifications". Just like the GPL denies
> > some freedoms in order to preserve others.
>
> You have provided no justification as to why these restrictions can be
> permitted for 'documentation' (which you haven't defined) and why they
> cannot be permitted for 'non-documentation'. Thusly, dismissed as
> hand-waving.
I'm not sure I need to define documentation. We aren't robots, we can
make judgement calls on what is, or is not, documentation. Did you want
to make a stab at defining documentation?
--
"Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon
the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those
conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse
to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince
himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep
he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception." -- Mark Twain
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