Debian GNU/Linux to Declare GNU GFDL non-Free?

Syntaxis writes "There's some considerable argy-bargy in progress over whether or not GNU's own GFDL is a Free documentation license at all. At issue are "invariant sections" which cannot be removed from derivative works. Check out the thread culminating in the proposed motion to take action. The current consensus on Debian-legal does indeed appear to be that one of the FSF's own licenses is non-Free under the terms of the Debian Free Software Guidelines! Well, documentation for GPLed projects countermanding the very freedoms embodied in the GPL certainly seems insane to me."

I like this line

[sprprsnmn]

"This is the stuff of which nasty flamewars and misspelled Slashdot headlines are made"

I like his sig:

[vicviper]

G. Branden Robinson "To be is to do" -- Plato
Debian GNU/Linux "To do is to be" -- Aristotle
[e-mail] "Do be do be do" -- Sinatra

Re:Who the fuck cares? Lunix is GAY.

[Frater 219]

I think it would be more accurate so say that Mac OS X is gay. It clearly wins in the fashion stakes, and expresses a strong preference for interfacing with others of the same type (which is not to say it won't interface with others...).

Mac OS X is a freaking slut! It'll do anything it can get its hands on.

File sharing? Sure -- straight NFS with Unix hosts; kinky SMB with Windows; AppleShare AFP with other Macs, even old ones. It'll even play with weird new tricks like WebDAV, and it can mount an FTP server as easily as mounting a local disk.

Executables? No problem. Trick it out with the right gender-bender [connectix.com], and it'll run Windows programs. Lots of Linux and Unix software just takes a recompile and a little teasing -- those perverts at Fink [sourceforge.net] specialize in fitting Debian parts into OS X ports.

And then there's all the perverted things it'll do in emulation [emulation.net] ...

Once upon a time...

[bcrowell]

From: [e-mail]
To: <Paul Programmer> [e-mail]
We're happy to inform you that your FooWare package will be included in the next release of the Debian distribution. A lot of users seem to love the software, and they also have very nice things to say about the high-quality documenation you wrote for it!

From: [e-mail]
To: <Paul Programmer> [e-mail]
Sorry to bother you, but a recent audit shows that the GFDL-licensed documentation for FooWare contains an invariant section reading Dedicated to the memory of my mother. This is a problem, because your thoughtless act takes away the freedom of other people to change this part of the documentation, As of the next release, the Debian distribution will no longer include any GFDL-licensed documents that contain invariant sections. Please change your licenseing.

From: <Paul Programmer> [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
No, sorry, I refuse to change the licensing of the manual.

From <Edna Enduser> [e-mail]
To: <Paul Programmer> [e-mail]
Wow, I'm really blown away by the wonderful quality of your FooWare package. The only thing is, it really needs some documentation. Could you please think about writing some? I use the Debian distribution, and a lot of the other software in it has good documentation. Maybe you should emulate those other programmers. You know, the best software in the world doesn't help us users unless it has good documentation.

target

[Anonymous Coward]

" This is the stuff of which nasty flamewars and misspelled Slashdot
headlines are made... "

right on target.

Coffee Talk

[mcmay]

Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic.

The GNU Free Document License is neither a gnu, nor free, nor a document license.

Discuss.

GNU...

[jdew]

is dying

Re:GNU dying?

[Anonymous Coward]

I can see it now. Stallman, yelling: "It's Gnooooooooo Linux! It was all my idea, mine, mine, mine! It's Gnoooooooooooooo.... URK!"