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Re: Debian and FSF docs (was: Man pages for gcc)



On Du, 31 oct 21, 17:37:10, Stefan Monnier wrote:
> > This is because GNU releases their documentation under a different license
> > than their source code.  And Debian considers the GNU documentation
> > license to be non-free (rightly so, because it prohibits distributing
> > modified versions).
> 
> FWIW, it's not nearly as clear cut as you make it sound, because it does
> not prevent distribution of all modified versions.
> 
> It does require one particular section to be kept unmodified (IIRC it's
> the section that promotes the FSF philosophy), but the bulk is Free in
> the usual sense of allowing redistribution of modified versions.

As far as I understand[1] further modifications can add other invariant 
sections as well and humans have demonstrated a remarkable capacity of 
abusing such loopholes.
 
> I find this state of affair rather sad and am disappointed by both
> Debian and the FSF for not finding a compromise.  It ends up promoting
> the use of the non-free repository, which I think neither project wants.

At the very least Debian could split non-free into sections or add more 
areas (non-free firmware being another obvious candidate for splitting 
out).

[1] https://wiki.debian.org/GFDLPositionStatement

Kind regards,
Andrei
-- 
http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser

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