John Galt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Here's the general case of this question: should a license that > restricts one port of Debian (ie Debian GNU/Linux, Debian GNU/Hurd, > or Debian *BSD ATM) into placing it into non-free consequently > restrict all ports, despite the DFSG-freeness of the licensure in > their case?
The DFSG is device-independent. Something cannot be DFSG-free on one architecture without being DFSG-free on all. The DFSG requires that I'm allowed to compile, distribute and run the program in *any* environment I care to port it to. If the license does not allow that it is not DFSG-free anywhere. This is not just dead formalism, it is an essential part of freedom. Free software should not attempt tie the user to a specific class of hardware or operating systems. When I decide to base my business on free software I expect to be able to take that free software with me when the machines I have become obsolete and I invest in new ones. -- Henning Makholm "What the hedgehog sang is not evidence."
