free, freer, freest
A few thought from a non-developer with an interest in Debian's product;
ending with a question/suggestion directed to RMS.
Is it Debian GNU/Linux or GNU Debian/Linux.
The former indicates that Debian is an entity, with its own agenda and
methodology, based on the GNU tools and the Linux kernel. The later
indicates an entity, with the GNU agenda and methodology, based on Debian
tools and the Linux kernel.
What is the FSF, what does the FSF do that GNU can not, and why.
I've always figured that the FSF was created as a more palatable (to the
general public) outlet for the GNU philosophy [just as Open Source was
created as a more palatable (to the commercial community) outlet for the
same philosophy]... if that is the case, why does GNU need such a front.
Is Debian a front for GNU, or an independent entity.
Will Debian become more unpalatable (to both the general public and
commercial community) if it turns itself into something that would be more
aptly named "GNU Debian/Linux".
>From the pocket dictionary that was within arms reach:
FREE - not subject to the will of others; unconfined; acquitted.
GNU's idea of "free" appears quite different: subject to the will of GNU;
confined to GNU's notion of "free"; obligated to follow GNU philosophy.
Ya, ok, I am focusing on "free", GNU is focused on "free software" - but
wouldn't the average reasonable person assume that the "free" in "free
software" carries the same meaning as the word "free" does when used in
other contexts. GNU may champion "free software", but it does not
champion "free", the 17,000+ byte General Public License makes that clear.
My biggest worry is that Debian will become too GNUish for both the
general public and software developers; resulting either in Debian dying a
slow death from a lack of participation, or the creation of a truly free
Debian style distribution that will split the development effort ("Debian"
becomes "Debianish", yuk!).
Mr. Stallman,
Why doesn't GNU set up their own front-end to Debian,
one that only allows access to what GNU considers to be "free"?
Users and developers would then be able to make a choice between a
free Debian style Linux/HURD/whatever distribution, and the GNU window
into the same distribution.
GNU would get a reasonably good measure of the effectiveness of its PR
efforts, and whatever other stats you can derive from 'hit' counts versus
time data - rather than the distorted view you would get if Debian changed
the way it does things, leaving no way in which to determine if Debian
users are GNUites or they just happen to have been Debian users before it
became more GNUish.
Debian would have freedom from the free-freer battle.
I realize there would be some technical hurdles to overcome, namely that
of creating the window without duplicating most of the Debian site...
a task which should be made easier by the software being discussed on the
debian-admintool list. If fact, working with the -admintool crowd to
ensure that Debian can be easily configured as either a free or a GNU
system would be a net positive for both parties.
This suggestion could result in Debian becoming the freest software
distribution around, rather than a second-rate distribution because it
is missing currently important pieces like Netscape and ssh.
Sincerely,
Bruce Sass
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