Re: A new practical problem with invariant sections?
On Sun, Feb 12, 2006 at 10:44:51PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> What if he wants to further distribute the stuff to other
> people who are using a device like his? I mean, sharing stuff useful
> to me is one of the prime reasons I like free software -- if stuff is
> useful, I can share.
why are you obsessing with a convenience issue and pretending that it
has ANY BEARING AT ALL on freedom issues? it doesn't.
the answer to your disingenuous question is obvious. he gives them the
entire document, and the recipient does whatever they want/need to get
it onto their PDA. if they physically can't do what they want with it
(e.g. because of limitations in the device/medium they're trying to
import it to), then that is just an unfortunate reality in a world
governed by physical laws rather than wishes and magic.
if there is a particular process which can shoehorn the document into
the limited device, then it's perfectly OK to distribute the document
along with with instructions (whether human-executable instructions or
a script/program) for doing so. i.e. this meets the requirements of the
"patch clause" in the DFSG.
> Of course, in this case, GFDL would prohibit sharing information. And
> people call that free?
no, the GFDL does not prohibit sharing information.
the GFDL, same as any other license, simply is not capable of granting
the power to do the physically impossible.
craig
--
craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au> (part time cyborg)
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