Re: [libreplanet-discuss] The GNU ethical repository criteria will only harm free software.

[John Sullivan]

arthur_torrey@comcast.net writes:

> It's the same problem I have with the RYF label - because you don't
> allow the label to be used on a product that also has a 'Works with
> <proprietary>' system label, you cut your own throats - like it or not
> that is a big set of users, and a manufacturer would be foolish to
> ignore a potential market segment. If I made a hardware product that
> ran on both, I wouldn't even think of applying for an RYF label
> because of that restriction. As a hardware consumer I am HURT, because
> in most cases I can't look at a product box and see a 'Runs on
> GNU/Linux' label next to the 'Runs on <other system>' label. The Free
> Software world is HURT because the proprietary system user never gets
> to see that he can use his hardware under GNU/Linux as well as the
> proprietary system....

FWIW, that's not quite what that criterion says. Compatibility labeling
for proprietary OSes is allowed under RYF. ("However, we don't object to
clear factual statements informing the user that the product also works
with specific proprietary operating systems.") What's not allowed is
promotional labeling for proprietary OSes, which makes sense, given the
purposes of the program.

I also know of no cases where this has been a deciding factor in
certification. 

-john

-- 
John Sullivan | Executive Director, Free Software Foundation
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