Scripsit Wouter Verhelst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Op di 13-01-2004, om 00:48 schreef Anthony DeRobertis:
> > >> good idea. perhaps something easily parsable like: > > >> Non-DFSG: 1, 3, 5 > > I don't think it'd be sufficient to do that with. DFSG 3, for example, > > is _very_ broad. > Yes, I know. So is 5, which makes it a lot less efficient for the > purpose I suggested. Still, that was only an example; and if it is to be > implemented, it should have an advisory character, at best. The problem is that it would be hard to make use of such a line without confusing uninitiated users. For example, if a package in non-free had Non-DFSG: 3 and a tool that parsed that displayed This package is non-free because - it does not allow modifications and distribution of modified source. someone might complain that the license does allow you to distribute modified sources, if only your stand on your head and chant the name of the author's cat thrice. It's hard to describe what is wrong with this simply by pointing to entire clauses in the DFSG. Or imagine a license that was all fine and dandy except it contained a "you must monitor my website" clause. TTBOMK all debian-legal regulars agree that we do not consider that free, but which clause of the DFSG would we point to here? The best we could do would be to put Non-DFSG: 1, 2, 3, 7 (i.e. all the clauses that positively require rights), because rights that are granted only to people who monitor websites do not count when applying the DFSG. However, such a line would not make the reader much wiser about what was *really* wrong with the license. > But having a machine-readable list of (generic) reasons why a certain > piece of software is non-free has its advantages. We should do that, if > possible (and it is possible). It might well be the case that we could construct a workable classification of "errors" (wrt the DFSG), but I'm disputing the assumption that the clauses of the DFSG itself consitute a good attempt a such a classification. A better start might be the list of common fallacies in Q11 of the DFSG faq on <http://people.debian.org/~bap/dfsg-faq.html>, but it would take some additional work to structure it as a good classification scheme. -- Henning Makholm "Hell, every other article you read is about the Mars underground, and how they're communists or nudists or Rosicrucians --"