For starters: this is not (and cannot be[1]) a proposal. These suggested changes to BR1 are offered in hopes that BR1 will be adjusted along these lines. If for some reason someone wants to incorporate this as a proposal, it needs to be proposed separately.
The changes:
1) Further clean up the software|work conflation, and replace 'run'
with 'use' or 'be used' and software with 'works' and/or 'software and
other works'
2) Removal of 'operating system'. (In case we start distributions that
aren't operating systems or some such.)
3) Commercial replaced with non-free, and deriviations allowed
broadened.
4) Random gramatical cleanup. [More is probably needed. ;-)]
I've attached my current suggestion, and I'll include an ugly wdiff
here:
"Social Contract" with the Free Software Community
[-[PROPOSED-]
{+[DLA MOD OF PROPOSED+} DRAFT FOR AMENDMENT; NOT OFFICIAL]
1. Debian Will Remain 100% Free
We promise to preserve your right to freely use, modify, and
distribute Debian [-operating system-] distributions. [-We include the-]
{+The+} guidelines we use to
determine if a work is "free" {+are+} in a document called the Debian
Free Software Guidelines. Every work contained in our
distributions will satisfy those guidelines. We will support our
users who develop and [-run-] {+use+} non-free [-software-] {+works+} on
Debian, but we will
never make the system depend on [-an item of-] {+a+} non-free
[-software.-] {+work.+}
2. We Will Give Back to the Free Software Community
When we write new components of the Debian system, we will license
them [-as freely in a manner consistent with-] {+so that they are "free"
according to+} the Debian Free Software
Guidelines. We will make the best system we can, so that free
software and other works will be widely distributed and used. We will
communicate bug fixes, improvements, user requests, etc. to the
"upstream" authors of software and other works included in our system.
3. We Will Not Hide Problems
We will keep our entire bug report database open for public view at all
times. Reports that users file online will promptly become visible
to others without requiring manual approval. Project discussions will
be held in forums open to public participation except where absolutely
necessary. We are committed to transparency and accountability in our
decision-making processes.
4. Our Priorities are Our Users and Free Software
We will be guided by the needs of our users and the free software
community. We will place their interests first in our priorities. We
will support the needs of our users for operation in many different
kinds of computing [-environment.-] {+environments.+} We will not object
to [-commercial software-] {+non-free works+}
that [-is-] {+are+} intended to [-run-] {+be used+} on Debian systems, and
we will allow
others to create value-added distributions containing both Debian
and [-commercial
software,-] {+non-Debian works, both free and non-free,+} without any fee
from us. In {+the+} furtherance of these goals, we will provide an
integrated system of high-quality works [-of software
and other materials with no-] {+without+} legal
restrictions that would prevent these uses of our [-operating system-]
distributions.
Don Armstrong
1: Yes, I am not (yet) a Debian Developer.
--
"The question of whether computers can think is like the question of
whether submarines can swim."
-- Edsgar Dijkstra
http://www.donarmstrong.com
http://www.anylevel.com
http://rzlab.ucr.edu
"Social Contract" with the Free Software Community
[DLA MOD OF PROPOSED DRAFT FOR AMENDMENT; NOT OFFICIAL]
1. Debian Will Remain 100% Free
We promise to preserve your right to freely use, modify, and
distribute Debian distributions. The guidelines we use to
determine if a work is "free" are in a document called the Debian
Free Software Guidelines. Every work contained in our
distributions will satisfy those guidelines. We will support our
users who develop and use non-free works on Debian, but we will
never make the system depend on a non-free work.
2. We Will Give Back to the Free Software Community
When we write new components of the Debian system, we will license
them so that they are "free" according to the Debian Free Software
Guidelines. We will make the best system we can, so that free
software and other works will be widely distributed and used. We will
communicate bug fixes, improvements, user requests, etc. to the
"upstream" authors of software and other works included in our system.
3. We Will Not Hide Problems
We will keep our entire bug report database open for public view at all
times. Reports that users file online will promptly become visible
to others without requiring manual approval. Project discussions will
be held in forums open to public participation except where absolutely
necessary. We are committed to transparency and accountability in our
decision-making processes.
4. Our Priorities are Our Users and Free Software
We will be guided by the needs of our users and the free software
community. We will place their interests first in our priorities. We
will support the needs of our users for operation in many different
kinds of computing environments. We will not object to non-free works
that are intended to be used on Debian systems, and we will allow
others to create value-added distributions containing both Debian
and non-Debian works, both free and non-free, without any fee
from us. In the furtherance of these goals, we will provide an
integrated system of high-quality works without legal
restrictions that would prevent these uses of our distributions.
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