Re: [Gnewsense-dev] Are those really bugs?

[Sam Geeraerts]

Op Mon, 7 Oct 2013 18:03:52 +0200
schreef Marek Buras <address@hidden>:

> Are they really bugs? In all cases there's a word "free" used as in
> "free beer" in relation to some propriatary programs which are (or
> where at the time of writing the files) free as in beer and nothing
> more. Noone suggests using those programs nor the information is
> visible in the libraries. Should we really patch those packages?

In the context of gNewSense the word "free" often refers to freedom.
When we refer to price we make that explicit in the context or by using
an unambiguous synonym (e.g. gratis). So when our documentation says
that software is "freely available" it is reasonable for the user to
assume that the program comes with software freedom.

I agree that the comments are not really encouraging the use of the
programs (though they look like an endorsement in a certain angle and a
certain light), so maybe not strictly FSDG issues. But it's better to
not have the ambiguity. Besides, they're excellent low hanging fruit
[1] for newcomers.

[1] http://www.gnewsense.org/DevelopmentTeam/EasyBugs