:: Re: [Dng] Devuan commitments - will…
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Autor: Miles Fidelman
Datum:  
To: dng
Betreff: Re: [Dng] Devuan commitments - will trade-off be applied?
Didier Kryn wrote:
>     We all agree that Devuan was born to be systemd-free and this 
> looks like a sustainable goal to begin with. But I understood this 
> thread started with questioning the long term policy.

>
>     For sure, if one wants systemd, this one should install Debian, or 
> RH. Also, to all of us, anybody trying to provide systemd for Devuan 
> would be suspect of being malevolent

>
>     However, the long term policy of Devuan can't be "We hate systemd 
> and Lennart Poetering". Instead Devuan should advertize the reasons to 
> reject software like systemd, in the form of  a set of rules for 
> acceptability, in a sensible and attractive form, for users, 
> developpers, and distros to easily share. I see these rules as an 
> addendum to the definition of free software.

>
>     These rules would obviously put systemd out of the free-software 
> category, let's call it anti-freedom, which is worse than non-free. 
> This does not mean there needs to be an anti-freedom repository, after 
> all :-)

>
>      This leaves no room for systemd-contaminated software, except if 
> the systemd API can be replaced by  a do-otherwise/do-nothing stub.


That raises an interesting point - might be time to think about refining
the definition of "free software" (per
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)

A program is free software if the program's users have the four
essential freedoms:

  * The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
  * The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does
    your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is
    a precondition for this.
  * The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
    (freedom 2).
  * The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others
    (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance
    to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a
    precondition for this.


Perhaps it's time to add something along the lines of "the freedom to
install software without it taking over your machine" (obviously this
needs work, or we'd it would eliminate things like the kernel, file
system, etc.).

Miles Fidelman


--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra