Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Mac-on-Linux entry in free system distribution guidelines list needs correction or removal

[Joshua Gay]

On 04/01/2016 10:04 PM, J.B. Nicholson wrote:
> 
> Currently this program is listed because it "Only runs/supports
> proprietary software.". Given what Joshua Gay said in
> https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnu-linux-libre/2016-03/msg00039.html
> "Only runs/supports proprietary software" is an inadequate reason to
> exclude Mac-on-Linux because (as Gay says) there are "Good reasons to be
> able to run proprietary software".

Nothing I wrote in the email you are quoting is applicable to this
situation. First and foremost, in that email I sent, I stated that free
distros SHOULD NOT package and distribute MAME.

I suggested in that email that it might be possible to produce a fork of
MAME that a free distro could distribute. I provided some suggestions on
some steps that should be taken in producing a fork.

The hypothetical package produced from such a fork may or may not be
something we would want to include in free distros. I stated that the
fork of the program should recommend only free programs/ROMs to users of
the program and I said it should not recommend running any proprietary
programs. If there are no free programs to recommend at all, then it
might be the case that a free distro should not distribute such a package.

The section you did quote the title of "good reasons to be able to run
proprietary programs" is a complicated one. One important remark I made
prefacing all of my comments in that email was this:

"Please keep in mind that my comments here are not necessarily all
generally applicable to modern systems and programs that are currently
in use. In many cases my comments might make sense when discussing a
computer program that is 38 years old but might not be as applicable to
some new software designed for modern computers."

This point matters. A 38 year old arcade ROM for which we may actually
have the complete and corresponding source code is a weird edge case to
be considered. When thinking about unusual and weird situations like
that, we should do so with care and consideration. It doesn't mean that
our conclusion at the end of the day will be that we go ahead and
recommend people download and run such ROMs if they are in fact
proprietary. However, there is value in thinking through the motivations
or reasons a person might have in wanting to run such ROMs as well as at
the same time thinking through and strategizing about how old, archived
proprietary programs might be able to be turned into old, archived free
software programs. In my email, this was also something I discussed.



-- 
Joshua Gay
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