[php-maint] Bug#692613: Bug#692613: php5: non-free files in upstream tarball ("The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil")

[Thijs Kinkhorst]

On Mon, May 13, 2013 15:31, Walter Landry wrote:
> "Thijs Kinkhorst" <thijs at debian.org> wrote:
>> On Mon, May 13, 2013 13:01, Ondrej Sury wrote:
>>> OK, it's very much annoying (since the tarball is huge and the updated
>>> module won't hit PHP 5.5), but I will comply.
>>
>> This seems like a paper exercise which I doubt is worth our efforts.
>>
>> I seems extremely unlikely that the author of the software could have a
>> legally valid case where a judge would positively decide that a use case
>> is objectively "Evil" and in violation of this license. I don't see a
>> practical risk to anyones freedom being in jeopardy here.
>>
>> Surely it's an annoying license, so when removing it is opportune we
>> should do it, but in this case the potential gains (if any?) do not seem
>> to outweigh the cost.
>
> The problem is not whether Debian can distribute the software.  The
> problem is that the tarball that Debian distributes to users must not
> contain non-free bits.  This is hardly the first time that this has
> come up [1].  Yes, it is annoying for the packager.  But it is useful for
> the user to know that, whatever is in the tarball, they will not have
> to do any forensic analysis before using the tarball.

My argument is not about this general idea but against this specific case
for this license.


Thijs