> The words of the social contract clearly equate software to programs.
I encourage you to look closer. The only part of the social contract which even contains the word programs is #5, a part both of us would like removed. Several parts of the DFSG contain the word "program". For instance, <LI><P><strong>Source Code</strong> <P>The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form.</P> <LI><P><strong>No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor</strong> <P>The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. <LI><P><strong>Distribution of License</strong> <P>The rights attached to the program Each of these assumes that the software in question is a program. To make that even clearer, one of them also assumes that the availability of source code for it is an important issue. That is most unfortunate, but Social Contract 1 says we have to apply those guidelines to everything in Debian. If you interpret item 1 of the social contract as meaning that everything in Debian is considered software, then you run smack into the fact that the DFSG equates software with programs. So you have to ignore what those words say, too. Thomas Bushnell proposed another interpretation, in which certain things that are included in the Debian package files are not "part of Debian" for this purpose. That way, you don't have to apply the DFSG to them.