Re: Debian and Non-Free Services
"Dr. Bas Wijnen" writes:
> On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 07:49:26PM +0200, Ansgar wrote:
>> > Subject: Free Software Needs Free Tools
>> >
>> > No Debian contributor should be expected or encouraged, when working
>> > to improve Debian, to use non-free tools.
>>
>> Does this include:
>>
>> - non-free firmware on Debian hardware,
>> - non-free software for interacting with hardware,
>> - non-free backup systems?
>
> You may be correct. In that case, this GR, if passed, declares that we want to
> change that. Is that controversial?
The GR forbids using any of these. That is not helpful.
As far as I know there is no mainstream hardware that doesn't require
non-free firmware; using non-mainstream hardware is possible, but has
other problems.
>> > This includes proprietary
>> > web services. We will ensure this, insofar as it is within Debian's
>> > collective control.
>>
>> Does this include use of proprietary CDN networks, DNS services, cloud
>> services (such as VMs or storage) or social network services (Twitter)?
>> Again, you probably cannot avoid them when contributing to relevant
>> parts of the project.
>
> Yes, it should mean that. Again, it doesn't mean people are not allowed to use
> them. It means that people who don't want to use them can still contribute to
> Debian. So for example, it would not be allowed to ignore the bts and only
> accept bug reports through Twitter.
So assume I want to avoid using non-free DNS and CDN services, but still
contribute to Debian. How should that work as long as Debian uses these
services? How should one contact people using non-free mail services?
(mailto:non-free is probably not better than https://non-free...)
Of course Debian can stop using CDN services and provide a worse
experience for users, but why? Debian's goal is not to build and
operate a free CDN service...
Ansgar
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