> What you say is correct, except that easy_install/pip are pretty much
> in the same category as aptitude.

I.e. they are programs using some external database to find packages to
install.  There is no problem in easy_install or pip other than possibly
using PyPI as default package index.

> How is
>
> sudo pip install module
>
> (module is non-free) any different? Is it because it's not on
> Trisquel's repos? In that case, why not leave in the link code that
> Mozilla puts in Firefox regarding Adobe Flash. It's not on Trisquel's
> repos and it would leave the decision up to the user.

There is a difference -- Mozilla visibly asks the user to install the
plugin even if they didn't plan to (e.g. just visiting a random site),
while easy_install/pip do it when the user asks them to do it.

After reading the FSDG again I agree that PyPI shouldn't be used by
default in free distros.  The specific sentence at
http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html:

> Nor should the distribution refer to third-party repositories that are
> not committed to only including free software; even if they only have
> free software today, that may not be true tomorrow.

Making a package index listing only FSDG-compatible packages and using
it instead of PyPI would solve this problem, and would not make sharing
free Python packages more difficult (assuming other package developers
want to use it).

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