copyright issues on debian
hi,
i recently had some questions about the package r-cran-afex, and whether
it violated the GPL, but after asking in several places, i
didn't/haven't seemed to have got much of a response.
this is fine, of course, i appreciate that debian is run by volunteers,
etc. and i'm not wanting to come out in a demanding or accusative way;
i'm just trying to understand so i can adjust my expectations accordingly.
it might be easiest if i describe what the process has been like for me,
and people might be able to explain where i erred, or what the situation is.
so i started by submitting a question to the debian-legal mailing list.
the impression i'm under is that this like "the authority" when it comes
to copyright issues, and a statement by them can save hours of discussion.
so this is where i began:
https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2015/09/msg00022.html
i only got one response, that the package didn't link against GPL2-only
code, and i was able to subsequently explain that it did.
however, there was no response after this, which i was puzzled by,
because the issue seemed pretty straight forward, and exactly the sort
of enquiry that debian-legal handles.
anyhow, giving up on that, i came to debian-science. it didn't feel like
the right place to ask, but where else do you go?
santiago and i had a small discussion about it, and in the end i think
he thought that i was probably right... but no-one else chimed in.
again, i was a little bit puzzled, because i thought people would be
really interested in this, and the issue does seem pretty black and white.
but santiago suggested i raise a bug against bugs.debian.org, and so i
thought "ah! so this is where this gets handled".
so then i submitted a bug against ftp.debian.org
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=800891
which is marked with severity /serious/
now i submitted this bug a week ago, but it doesn't appear to be getting
any attention. again, this might just be wrong expectations on my part,
but the ftp team are very quick at handling uploads, etc. so i thought
they would be very quick at handling a /serious/ issue.
and it seems to me to be pretty serious; the debian project presumably
cannot legally distribute software which violates licenses.
so all this to say, i'm a bit puzzled about all of this. i thought this
would be something that would be seen as important, and receive
reasonable attention.
have i done everything correctly? i'm trying to understand why things
aren't unfolding as i expect. any feedback or advice would be appreciated.
with thanks
jonathon
--
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--
How happy is he born and taught,
That serveth not another's will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill
This man is freed from servile bands
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall:
Lord of himself, though not of lands,
And, having nothing, yet hath all.
-- Sir Henry Wotton
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