On Tue, 31 Mar 1998, Stephen Carpenter wrote: [snip ... and btw, your lines are exceptionally long. ]
: I would like to see non-free debian packages on CDs... : it would make my life and the lives of many people easier... Of course it would. : and I would like to see some effort to make it easier : for CDROM vendors to include non-free debs.... What's hard about it? The packages are right there on the FTP site. The only reason we have OfficialCD images is because several CD manufacturers made some "interesting" decisions as far as what to put on their CDs ... I think several people are missing the point. Debian has a policy - it is the DFSG. So, Debian's "Official" CD set does not include non-free (because that would be rather silly, wouldn't it?). There is no restriction that says one *must* use the OfficialCD images, nor is it stated that you *must not* put non-free packages on a CD. There are benefits to the CD manufacturer if they choose to use the OfficialCD images, not the least of which is the fact that they may then label it "Official". However, as Manoj points out, there is no reason a manufacturer couldn't put some (or all) of the non-free packages on a CD as well. However, as Manoj also points out, the legality of doing so is murky, at best. Many of the "non-free" packages are non-free for this very reason! It would be foolish for Debian to make any guarantees regarding the legality of commercially distributing software with licenses that are unclear in this regard. Therefore, two immediate solutions come to mind. Someone can either dredge through the licenses and figure out what may be safely distributed out of non-free, or the folks who have written the packages in non-free might be persuaded to release their software(s) under a more permissive licenses, as far as distribution is concerned. -- Nathan Norman MidcoNet - 410 South Phillips Avenue - Sioux Falls, SD 57104 mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.midco.net finger [EMAIL PROTECTED] for PGP Key: (0xA33B86E9) -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
