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Re: For those who care about the GR



[Bill Allombert]
> > > There exist fields of endeavours that require mandatory
> > > encryption.  For example, if you work in security-sensitive
> > > field, you can be required to use a hard-drive with built-in
> > > encryption.  This technology certainly control who can read the
> > > disk.  In that case, you cannot copy a GFDL licensed document to
> > > your computer for reading it.

> > That's not at all what DFSG 6 means.  That's equivalent to
> > interpreting DFSG 6 to ban the GPL on the grounds that it
> > discriminates against proprietary software companies.

> No, the GPL does not ban proprietary software companies from using
> the software.

Exactly.  And neither does the GFDL ban people from using the
documentation if they work in a security field.

It's an equivalent case.  The DFSG does not say that any particular
requirements related to a field of endeavor must be honored.  This is
true whether that requirement is "in order to use this software, we
really need to be able to make proprietary derivatives" or "in order to
use this documentation, we really need to store it on encrypted media".


> > DFSG 6 does not say "anything a company might plausibly want to do,
> > our software must allow them to do".  It merely says that every
> > field of endeavor must be given the same rights.  Never mind
> > whether that set of rights is enough to satisfy any given party.
> 
> No it does not either. It says "The license must not restrict anyone
> from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor".  No
> mention of "giving the same right".

The whole point of the DFSG is to guarantee the giving of rights.
Perhaps a better wording would be "giving the rights outlined in the
rest of the DFSG" rather than "giving the same rights".  Either
interpretation does not change the effectiveness of your original
argument, though, so I have to wonder why you bring it up.  Unless you
have missed the connection between "not discriminating" and "giving
rights to people in every field", when the issue is about giving
rights.  I don't know how to explain that one better than I already
have.

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