Re: Anton's amendment
On Wed, Feb 01, 2006 at 03:11:25PM -0300, Margarita Manterola wrote:
>
> Ok, but by being invariant they are turning the documentation into
> non-free documentation. As you say, people won't be able to change it,
> therefore, it's a non-free text.
The modifications that are permited by GFDL are enough to make useful
modifications, that is to adapt the document and to improve it. Yes,
you can not do whatever you whish but this is not necessarily the
right interpretation of DFSG.
> I think that we agree that for a piece of software to be free, you
> have to be allowed to do modifications. And even if we don't go all
> the way to clarify "modifications to the whole program", it's implied
> in what we say: you are supposed to be able to modify anything you
> like, not just the particular part that the author of the program
> didn't mind being modified.
If the license says that some particular piece of code must be kept
unchanged and executed then it is very likely that such license won't
allow as to do some useful modifications.
> With documentation it's the same thing, if you cannot modify the whole
> text, it's non-free.
It is non-free if the license disallows some useful modifications.
> As it has been discussed here, having the Manifesto attached as
> invariant is not only non-free, but also quite problematic when you
> are trying to produce a derivative work that is either a) a
> compilation of many documents
With the currently existing documents this is not a problem. Moreover,
Debian already accepts some licenses that forbid compilations.
> b) a reduced version of the document (as in a cheat-sheet or
> similar)
This is allowed. When you distribute such documents you have to
accompany them with the invariant sections but thats all.
> c) printed on some non-paper medium (for example, a cup)
Also allowed. When you distribute such cup you can accompany it with
the invariant sections printed on paper medium and thats all.
> d) you want to give out copies to students and want to minimize
> cost.
I doubt someone can make a formal rule that the free works have to
minimize the distribution cost and I hardly see how such a rule fits
in the context of DFSG.
Anton Zinoviev
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