Hi, Mark Wielaard <m...@klomp.org> skribis:
> Right. I think what is being objected to is a GNU Social Contract that > would contain something like this part of the Debian Social Contract > https://www.debian.org/social_contract Looking at the form of Debian’s Social Contract, its conciseness and clarity, I was inspired to think about a few points that would summarize GNU’s mission and workings in a way that would hopefully be rather consensual among maintainers (I’d like to draw attention to the six headings, not necessarily on the detailed wording.) Thoughts? Ludo’.
Proposal of a “GNU Social Contract” This document states the core commitments of the GNU Project to the broader free software community. All current GNU package maintainers have agreed to uphold these values. * GNU is software that respects the freedom of computer users GNU is software that will always guarantee [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html][the four essential freedoms]] of computer users. Because GNU is about user freedom, the GNU Project refers to GNU as [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html][“free software”, not “open source”]]. The GNU Project [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html][does not compromise on user freedom]]. * GNU licenses uphold user freedom The GNU Project has designed software licenses to ensure developers cannot strip off user freedom from GNU software—[[https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.html][“copyleft” licenses]]. GNU software is distributed under the terms of these licenses. * GNU is a consistent operating system and set of applications The GNU Project [[https://www.gnu.org/gnu/about-gnu.html][develops an operating system]] as well as a set of applications—the “GNU packages”. GNU package developers work to [[https://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html#whatmeans][make packages consistent and to ensure they work well together]]. GNU packages should follow the project’s design and development guidelines, in particular those embodied in the [[https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/][GNU Coding Standards]] and the [[https://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/html_node/][Information for Maintainers of GNU Software]]. * GNU cares for computer user freedom beyond software Computer users can be free if they use software that respects their four essential freedoms, but also if that software is loyal to them. The GNU Project pays attention to and responds to new threats to user freedom as they arise, such as [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html][software substitutes]], [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html][distribution of non-free software via the Web]], [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html][mass surveillance]], [[https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary-drm.en.html][digital restrictions management (DRM)]], and more. * GNU collaborates with the broader free software community Over time, free software has extended beyond the GNU Project, and the GNU Project naturally works with companion free software projects that have been developing key components of a typical GNU system. The GNU Project supports developments that aim to extend the reach of free software to new fields. * GNU welcomes contributions from all and everyone The GNU Project produces software for anyone to use, but also wants to give everyone the opportunity to contribute to its efforts—be it as software developers, web masters, translators, speakers, system administrators, or on any of the many tasks that contribute to GNU. The Project welcomes everyone regardless of their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, level of experience, or any other personal characteristics. The GNU Project commits to providing a harassment-free experience for all its contributors.
