Debian Can Now Amend Social Contract, DFSG

An anonymous reader writes "The Debian Project, creators of the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, has voted to allow amendments to their Social Contract and Free Software Guidelines, as long as the developers agree with a 3:1 majority. The full text of the various amendments can be found in the original call for votes. Debian developer and XFree86 packager Branden Robinson has already proposed an amendment to the Social Contract that removes the requirement to maintain an archive for non-free software or "contrib" software (free software that depends on non-free software to work). Debian could still maintain this archive, but would no longer be required to do so. The proposal also updates the Social Contract to clearly require all works in Debian to meet the Debian Free Software Guidelines, not just software, which had come up repeatedly in the discussions over the non-free "GNU Free Documentation Licence". Both of these updates have been under consideration for some time, but were waiting on the ratification of the amendment procedure. The Debian Project voted on this amendment using their modified Condorcet voting procedure, which allows voters to rank the choices in order of preference, eliminating the "lesser of two evils" effect common to simple majority voting."

Comments

They say I'm not very bright...

[AnnieCoulter]

So can someone please explain what this means?

i'm laughing

[looie]

they are going to remove "non-free" documentation from debian ... so, you can install debian but you won't have documentation for gcc, textutils, fileutils &c. good idea.

somebody ought to take those people behind the woodshed and beat them with a clue stick. all they really have done, at th end of the day, is make their distribution less usable (but anyone who actually installed and used debian knows "usability" is a cuss word at that outfit).

if they follow through to these absurd lengths, they've just relegated their distribution to the dustbin. even technically sophisticated people, who know what they are doing, are not going to use a system that requires them to go out to separate resources and download and install documentation for software already installed. it will be irritating and it will be seen as an unnecessary irritation.

if you want to be pure (as in "puritan"), install debian. if you want to get work done, install slackware. if you want a pretty desktop, install redhat. life is full of choices. i chose door number two.

mp

Re:Probably won't happen

[looie]

You are free to believe that but it doesn't make it true.

yes, that applies to you, too.

Me too. I even contribute code to Emacs. Do you?

no. do you have a point?

As I said earlier, I doubt that will happen.

it will happen because the people leading this circus don't care if anyone besides themselves uses debian. they care only about being "pure." it occurs to me that debian is kind of the linux equivalent of freebsd -- its biggest liability is its user group. the sad fact is, the debian group had the opportunity to "spread the gospel" of free software by making a distribution which would highlight its advantages. instead, it chose to concentrate its energies on divisive and largely irrelevant political and religious issues like the GNU documentation license. it's almost like "new user" is a cuss word in the debian language. whatever the outcome of this squabble, one fact is incontestable: not a single addition debian user will be added as a result of that outcome. the debian group has left the resolution of core usability issues to the non-free and even proprietary software interests. in so doing, it has done far more damage to the cause of free software that will ever be gained by a "victory" in this dispute.

before i would embark on a religious crusade, i would ask whether the world would be a better place as the result of my effort. in this case, the answer is clearly "no." this discussion is irrelevant except in the context of what will happen to debian when its leaders decide to remove the "offending" documentation. although you claim it "won't happen" (shade of frank zappa lurking in the shadows), that's just a way of avoiding the question. when one sets out on a course of action, the prudent measure is to consider all outcomes. it seems apparent that you, at least, have not considered the outcome, should the FSF refuse to change the license to meet your demands.

my own belief is that you are not the FSF and that you have an agenda which is not necessarily compatible with the agenda of the FSF. i would prefer that outside organizations, like debian, not dictate the agenda of the FSF. the next step in the debian crusade toward "purity" appears to be removing contrib. after that, i suspect the LGPL will come under fire. you are all free to go your own way (so to speak). i prefer you not reduce the FSF to a sideline organization as ineffective in defense of free software as debian is in its propagation.

mp