At 11:34 AM 10/2/00 +0200, Sven LUTHER wrote:
Well, because you have no use for most of the stuff in non-free, it don't mean that other people have not need of it. Even if the people needing it are just a few one. That said, maybe we could make a survey or something such, to see what packages are in non-free, who uses them, and if it would be possible to use a free replacement.
I would say, without such a survey taking place, that for each package in non-free, there is at least one person who:
* has stated agreement with the DSC and DFSG * uses the package, or at least believes others do * feels strongly about the package enough to package and maintain it Shouldn't those be good reasons to keep the package?Just because there is a "free replacement" doesn't mean that we should drop the non-free version. Yes, there are free replacements for Navigator, including Mozilla among others. But as a user, I'm familiar with Navigator, comfortable with it. None of the others have quite the same feel and ease of use for me. So I use Navigator[1] -- and I'm not alone. True, I'd not lose Navigator if non-free disappeared, but I'd lose the BTS, I'd lose the painless install/updates, I'd potentially lose the integration, etc.
If I am forced to switch to a free replacement because of a policy decision, especially if it is against the wishes of the developer who is packaging Navigator, then that's political blackmail.
It would be different if the developer involved decided that maintaining it was no longer worth his time -- that happens with lots of packages, and if people really want it, another developer could pick up the ball. It isn't Debian trying to make a political statement by hurting its users.
I'm interested in knowing how non-free and contrib compares (sizewise, or number of packages) with main, and over time (is non-free/contrib 10% of Debian? 5%? How fast is this growing/shrinking? Is non-free/contrib growing or shrinking in absolute size?)
Later, Buddha[1] The real reason I use Navigator is for secure sites, sites with Java/Javascript, etc. If Mozilla allowed me to do my online banking, play the daily crossword puzzle at www.dictionary.com, and a few other similar things, I'd go for it.