Adrian Bunk wrote:
One day, a system administrator using Debian asks:
Why is $foo in non-free?
Case 1: foo = nvidia binary modules
Answer: Because these modules are binary-nonly and therefore
undebuggable for everyone except Nvidia. They give you a
much better 3D performance, but they sometimes lead to
kernel crashes.
Case 2: foo = some documentation
Answer: Because the document contains a invariant section in which
the author says he dedicates this manual to his dead father.
Let's use a real example here. Case 2: foo = GCC manualsAnswer: Because the document contains an inaccurate essay implying that free software won't exist unless Linux distributors donate a percentage of their gross to the FSF. And you have to provide this essay to your users if you provide the manual. In the manual, no less.
In the first case you might have convinced a system administrator that non-free software has serious disadvantages.
In the second case you'll hear a loud laugher.
In the *real* second case you might have convinced the sysadmin that non-free documentation has serious disadvantages.
For a funnier example, consider the hypothetical case where the XYZ manual, by Joe -- having borrowed a small section from the ABC manual dedicated to Jack's dead father -- now claims to be dedicated to Jack's dead father. Which it isn't.