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Re: The "Free" vs. "Non-Free" issue



On Sun, Jan 04, 2004 at 06:34:41PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> > On Sun, Jan 04, 2004 at 01:09:11AM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> >> Me; I would like to have a better handle on the reults of whatever
> >> actions are the logical conclusion of this opinion poll -- and even
> >> build upon the possible directions the project could go while we
> >> are asking for peoples input.
> 
> > Umm, that's why we have a proposal and discussion system. People
> > have had plenty of time to express any opinions they might have on
> > this - and I've been following them carefully, and none of them have
> > said anything appreciably more meaningful than "I want to keep
> > non-free" or "I want to drop non-free".

> 	We made a promise to users; and even called it a
>  ``contract''.  Now we no longer want to keep that promise, so are we
>  going to just leave the users in the lurch, with no transition plan,
>  no support going forward? For people whoi seem to think that
>  distributing non-DFSG free software is unethical, how ethicsal is
>  this reneging on our promise?

I'm not going to respond to that, other than to point out that it
is based on the assumption that non-free is important and useful.

> > If there were evidence of the existence of other significant
> > opinions, sure, we could write them into the ballot. If any appear,
> > we still can. But there hasn't been, and I don't buy the silent
> > majority theory, since it's almost impossible to get Debian
> > developers to shut up at the best of times.
> 
> 	If you are unwilling to discuss issues, how can other nascent
>  opinions develop?

I don't believe that it is necessary for people to talk to *me* before
they can form opinions about things.

> 	I like to keep my promise, is all. I am not implying, though,
>  that other people share my opinion, or that they should; nor am I
>  implying that people who want to get rid of non-free software are
>  breaking their promise.  This is a subjective issue, and I am stating
>  my take on it.

<shrug> Clauses 1 and 5 of the social contract are in conflict
anyway. I'm not greatly concerned by moving the line.

-- 
  .''`.  ** Debian GNU/Linux ** | Andrew Suffield
 : :' :  http://www.debian.org/ |
 `. `'                          |
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