Mark Rafn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > FWIW, if I can't reuse a sentence from the Debian manifesto, I don't think > it belongs in Debian either.
Old BSD software (including stuff currently in Debian) requires the addition of an advertising sentence in many circumstances. The GPL requires the inclusion of a change log notification and a no-warranty statement, which are "invariant sections" in that you aren't allowed to delete them. The rule "any amount of invariant text no matter how small makes a thing non-free" would actually exclude virtually *ALL* of the Debian archive. Branden recognizes that we must permit "license texts" to include invariant sections, but why should that allow the noxious BSD advertising clause? The sentences it requires are invariant sections which are *not* part of the license. Similarly, the required no-warranty statements and change logs required by the GPL. Nearly everything in Debian contains "invariant text", the question is, when and how is invariant text a problem?
