Re: Proposal: The DFSG do not require source code for data, including firmware

[Matthias Julius <lists@julius-net.net>]

"Joe Smith" <unknown_kev_cat@hotmail.com> writes:

> "Anthony Towns" <aj@azure.humbug.org.au> wrote in message
> [🔎] 20060823140553.GA15284@azure.humbug.org.au">news:[🔎] 20060823140553.GA15284@azure.humbug.org.au...
>
>>
>>The middle one's the one of interest, it's expressed in the first point
>>of the social contract as:
>>
>>    "We will never make the system require the use of a non-free
>>     component."
>>
>>(For reference, that replaced the following text from v1.0 of the social
>>contract:
>>
>>    "[...] we will never make the system depend on an item of non-free
>>     software."
>>)
>>
>
> [blink]!
>
> Clearly we cannot possibly be upholding that statement. There is
> simply no computer
> of fully free hardware and software. Even if there were, I'm betting
> Debian would require
> extensive modifications to run on it.

In my view the unavalability of a free alternative does not create a
dependency on a non-free component.  Only if Debian would require a
specific non-free BIOS for example I would regard that as a
dependency.

That your hardware (or mine) requires a BIOS (or firmware) for which
there is no free alternative does not make Debian depend on it, IMHO.

Matthias