Re: [gnu-prog-discuss] Re: continuous builds and portability testing with Hydra

[Reuben Thomas]

On 29 April 2010 18:09, Alfred M. Szmidt <address@hidden> wrote:
> I'm sorry, but I fail to see your point, Reuben.  The goal of the GNU
> project from the start has been to take a explicit stance against
> non-free software.  There is nothing religious about it, there is no
> deity that we adhere to, or a bible that we hold dear, we simply take
> a stance against what is an immoral behaviour towards our computer
> users.

The point is that by decrying every single instance of non-free
software in the same terms, you risk alienating some of your best
supporters.

> I also fail to see how my assertion is wrong, you confirm that Debian
> not only tells users about the non-free repository, but also that
> Debian includes non-free software in its so called `main` repository
> which according to you should be void of non-free software.

Because otherwise, Debian would be useless to a large proportion of its users.

There's a place for purity, and there's a place for pragmatism. In the
software landscape, Debian and GNU are very close. Describing Debian
and Ubuntu as simply "recommending non-free software" fails to take
into account the work both projects do to promote free software, and
also fails to distinguish them from organisations that happily use and
produce free and non-free software together, such as Google or Apple.

> As for contributing to the GNU project, nothing stops you, you don't
> have to agree with the goals of the GNU project.

Why not? It seems pretty pointless to contribute to something whose
goals I don't agree with.

> If you need a project ideas to hack on, then I have a few... :-)

Maybe I wasn't clear: I am already a GNU maintainer, and I do agree
with the goals of the GNU project. What I don't like is the way they
are often advanced.

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