Bug#129629: Not really distributing sources
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Stallman [mailto:rms@gnu.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:37 PM
> To: submit@bugs.debian.org
> Subject: Bug#129629: Not really distributing sources
>
>
> Package: apt
> Version: 0.5.4
>
> The default contents of /etc/apt/sources.list
> have the source package locations commented out.
> A consequence of this is that Debian is not,
> practically speaking, providing equivalent access
> to copy the sources along with the binaries
> as required by some licenses including the GNU GPL.
>
> The fix is simple: uncomment those lines, and make sure they are
> correct.
>
And this would double the load on every mirror, every time someone types
"apt-get update"... Seems a hefty price to pay just to make the source
even more obvious to the user than it already is.
I'd hate to sound like a dink here, but do you really think that anyone
who will be hacking on the source in their free time is really stupid
enough to not be able to figure out how to get at it?
As I'm sure you're aware (as you had, no doubt, a large hand in writing
it), the GPL doesn't specify that Debian (or anyone else) has to
'distribute' the source, merely that they make the source available,
which it very much is.
I'm likely to get myself involved in a flame war I'm not prepared for
here, but I don't think it's worthwhile to double the load on some
already very stressed mirrors just to make one man a little happier
about how 'apt-get' works. Even if that man is RMS.
... Adam Conrad
(clearly, not the apt maintainer/author)
(Wondering idly if anyone will notice that this message was sent without
Outlook, thereby doubly making me a "bad, bad man")
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