At 11:34 AM 10/2/00 +0200, Sven LUTHER wrote:
>Well, because you have no use for most of the stuff in non-free, it don't mean
>that other people have not need of it.
>
>Even if the people needing it are just a few one.
>
>That said, maybe we could make a survey or something such, to see what
>packages are in non-free, who uses them, and if it would be possible to use a
>free replacement.
I would say, without such a survey taking place, that for each package in
non-free, there is at least one person who:
* has stated agreement with the DSC and DFSG
* uses the package, or at least believes others do
* feels strongly about the package enough to package and maintain it
Shouldn't those be good reasons to keep the package?
Just because there is a "free replacement" doesn't mean that we should drop
the non-free version. Yes, there are free replacements for Navigator,
including Mozilla among others. But as a user, I'm familiar with
Navigator, comfortable with it. None of the others have quite the same
feel and ease of use for me. So I use Navigator[1] -- and I'm not
alone. True, I'd not lose Navigator if non-free disappeared, but I'd lose
the BTS, I'd lose the painless install/updates, I'd potentially lose the
integration, etc.
If I am forced to switch to a free replacement because of a policy
decision, especially if it is against the wishes of the developer who is
packaging Navigator, then that's political blackmail.
It would be different if the developer involved decided that maintaining it
was no longer worth his time -- that happens with lots of packages, and if
people really want it, another developer could pick up the ball. It isn't
Debian trying to make a political statement by hurting its users.
I'm interested in knowing how non-free and contrib compares (sizewise, or
number of packages) with main, and over time (is non-free/contrib 10% of
Debian? 5%? How fast is this growing/shrinking? Is non-free/contrib
growing or shrinking in absolute size?)
Later,
Buddha
[1] The real reason I use Navigator is for secure sites, sites with
Java/Javascript, etc. If Mozilla allowed me to do my online banking, play
the daily crossword puzzle at www.dictionary.com, and a few other similar
things, I'd go for it.
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