Re: DFSG#10
* Tore Anderson
> To be able to make the distinction, one would also have to forget about
> the mathematical fact that "100%" refer to the whole thing, alternatively
> concede that we have always violated the social contract by distributing
> "copyrighted works distributable in digital form" (which are not
> "software").
* Raul Miller
> The whole what?
Well, "Debian". Read on..
* Tore Anderson
> For Debian to be "100% Free Software", it first must be "100% Software",
> right?
>
> I'm entirely willing to be educated where I'm wrong.
* Raul Miller
> If Debian is 100% software, does that mean developers can't be a part of
> Debian? What about mirror servers? What about mailing lists? What about
> passwords? What about licenses? What about printed materials? etc.
> Are these not parts of Debian? Are they 100% software?
Because of the requirement of being Free Software, I think it rather
far-fetched to think of "Debian" as "Debian, the project" in this context.
"Debian, the operating system distribution" fits much better - it's the only
thing that makes sense to me, at least.
> One issue here is that "Debian" is an adjective, and you have to dub
> in the noun.
Ah, that's probably it. That's one way of reading it I hadn't considered.
I considered "Debian" to be the noun, and still do, but at least this makes
sense, logically speaking. Thanks.
> Also, unfortunately, there was quite a bit of rhetoric aimed against
> people -- which probably made some of those people a bit shy about
> expressing their views. [Personally, I think rhetoric aimed against
> people is wrong -- if the people in question are wrong about something
> then it's much more useful to address what they are saying, and the
> underlying issues.]
No disagreement here.
> You undoubtably know this already, but:
>
> If you like none of the proposals, you can of course propose your own.
> Or, if it's not clear to you what you should propose, you can vote for
> further discussion if the vote is held before you've made up your mind.
I wouldn't know how to word such a proposal, sadly. Fortunately Graham
Wilson just pointed me to Bill Allombert's proposal which I think fits
the bill.
--
Tore Anderson
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