On Tue, 31 Mar 1998 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> 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. > I would like to add a second reason for encouraging vendors include non-free software: I want Linux to become a viable alternative to Microsoft, not because I hate Microsoft, but because Linux is better in many circumstances. I would like corporate information technology managers to use Linux for mail servers, print servers, and whatever else Linux is better at. The problem is that managers are unfamilar with Linux. They may be willing to run dselect, but one cannot expect them to search the net for a package, download it, and run "dpkg -i file". Remember these are people who grew up with Windows, not Unix. They may never even worked with DOS. Having more software on cdrom cannot do any harm, and it may help. We seem have a collision between two philosophy: (1) distribute free software and (2) making it easier for new Linux users, particularly non Unix people, to install Linux. Everyone has their own druthers, I lean toward the second because I want the Linux user base to grow. > 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. There is a legal problem but it may be solution that is not too onerous. Create a non-free-1 (shareware) and non-free-2. If several people (including the maintainer) read the license and agree it is OK to distribute, put in non-free-1; if no one has read the license or if there is doubt put in non-free-2. Not optimal, but a start. king lee [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
