Re: official Emacs Docker image

[Ted Zlatanov]

On Sat, 09 Jul 2016 12:54:33 -0400 Richard Stallman <address@hidden> wrote: 

RS> Could you explain what you mean by "official"?  In what sense are
RS> those "official"?

>> The Docker Hub web site marks them so, and users trust them more. They
>> tend to be up to date.

RS> Who said these are "official"?

Docker Inc., who runs the Docker Hub. They essentially own the top
namespace, so pulling "ubuntu" gets the official Ubuntu image, while
"rms/ubuntu" is under the "rms" (usually a user name) namespace.

>> Docker Inc. provides some maintenance and review for such images, so
>> they are in many ways an investment for the company. I don't know more,
>> I've never made or maintained an official image. But GCC is up there, as
>> I said, so there's a precedent.

RS> Whether we should recommend Docker containers is a ethical question
RS> and a political question.  If the answer is yes, whether we should
RS> post them on the Docker site is another ethical question and another
RS> political question.

RS> Precedent is not the way to reach conclusions about such questions.
RS> In other words, the fact that someone is doing something does not
RS> mean it is a good thing to do.

RS> The GNU Project has no position on those questions as yet.

Yes, right, and that's why I am trying to start the discussion instead
of just putting up Emacs images on the Docker Hub :)

What's the plan for coming to a position? Is there some timeframe, or
some milestones, that have to be reached? Will the discussions be
private and then an announcement made?

Containers are in many ways hiding free software from the users, who are
not aware of all the GNU or other software at every layer, and usually
just use the top layer as a service (wrapping all the others). Docker in
particular does a great job at simplifying the process, so users don't
have to pay attention to licenses or provenance. So I think establishing
a FSF/GNU presence and even branding in the Docker community now is
important. I hope you'll consider that.

Thanks
Ted