Hi, MJ Ray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I still feel [the nv driver] falls into a "free but not very good" category, but I think I would be convinced by an FSF position on this.
After a quick search to try and find if the FSF ever voiced an opinion on nv, I unfortunately only dug out the well-known case against NVidia's binary kernel module. Probably they never considered the issue. I sent them a mail anyway pointing them to this thread with a quick summary of the issue, we'll see if they answer. Probably not because it is outside the scope of their own concerns, but who knows. You'll find my mail to the FSF at the bottom, hopefully I have not been too biased nor unclear. >If we only consider "software that invites hacking" to be free software, we're going to lose a lot more of GNU. That's probably one reason why it's not in the DFSG. It just has to be possible. Not necessarily easy. "Software that invites hacking" is not a good metrics, I agree. What I propose instead is that Debian considered a stricter definition of source code such as that in the GPL. In my understanding, for now source code in Debian could as well be precompiled code or code that can only be compiled on a compiler than only can be compiled by itself. These are exagerations, but though there is a a general dislike against obfuscated code, to my understanding it is not warranted by the DFSG themselves. Cheers, Camille d'Alméras Mail to the FSF: Dear Sir, As of 01/03/05, there is an ongoing discussion on the debian-legal mailing list to make sure the "nv" X driver complies with the DFSG ; the title of the thread is "Let's stop feeding the NVidia cuckoo". The moral authority on free software of the FSF was brought to the discussion, so I ask your opinion on the matter. A quick summary of the argument is as follows: the "nv" driver's source, though it is most probably not obfuscated through software, is made nearly unhackable by the use of "magic numbers" for functions. There are discusions going on to find out if this coding style is natural or contrived to obscure the code. Could you give us your take on the matter ? Does the FSF consider nv free software ? Thank you, Camille d'Alméras __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]