Re: FSF not considering Debian as Free (Re: Debian and non-free)
MJ Ray <mjr@phonecoop.coop> writes:
> Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org> wrote: [...]
>> My understanding of RMS's position is that he would like Debian to
>> follow something like the rule that the FSF has about not linking to
>> any non-free software from their sites, [...]
>
> That rule is a myth.
It most certainly is not. I can attest to that personally, having been
involved in and followed multiple FSF projects for many years. It is an
expectation for all GNU projects.
> Their campaign sites like http://badvista.fsf.org and
> http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ have links to and about non-free
> software - with commentary, but still links.
I would have thought that was fairly obviously not quite the same thing as
what I was talking about. I didn't state the exact parameters of the rule
in detail, and it's not as simple as just never mentioning the existence
of any non-free software package, but I expected the audience here to be
reasonably familiar already with what I was talking about.
> I think it's counter-productive to spend so much time badmouthing the
> competition, but I'd be happy to see a link from fsf.org to debian that
> noted we have different views on some aspects of freedom.
I'm not bad-mouthing the competition. As I already said, I'm an associate
FSF member, and I'm involved in several GNU software projects. Please do
not attribute spurious motives to me without understanding what I'm
saying.
> Anyway, does this thread count as debian.org mentioning non-free.org?
> If so, we've lost already, actually.
No, of course not.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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