some observations:
* if the software in the f-droid repo was never all libre, but the server and
client were once accepted into the FSD, that suggests to me that the software
in the third-party repos is not relevant to the FSD, only the server and client
are - ie: if non-free software in some repos is a justification for removing a
client which can potentially access it, then it should not have been added in
the first place - but it was; and i do not believe any new information has
come to light since that time - so fundamentally, this is not really asking
about one specific entry; but it is really asking "what is our policy about
third-party package managers?" - i dont believe that the FSD has any policy
about that
* the concern gnutoo raises in the context of replicant is per the FSDG, because
replicant is a distro - as i understand it, the guidelines for the FSD do not
pertain to distribution or third-party repositories - the FSD is only concerned
with the licensing of each program, taken independently
* the entry itself is rather confusing - it describes the server, the client,
and the f-droid repos with equal emphasis - reading the description alone,
one could not guess which one of those three that the entry is actually for -
is is common for FSD entries to pertain to multiple applications? - i suppose
that this entry is for the server software - so probably, it does not need to
mention the client or the third-party repo
* the client would be the dubious program, but the client only runs on android,
which is probably why there is no download link for it - the download link is
only for the server, which makes sense to me, as i understand the FSD - im not
certain, but i dont believe that the FSD lists any android software - if so,
then the f-droid FSD entry must have been added for the server software only -
- the server software is not used to access the f-droid repo, and presumably
does not suggest any applications out-of-the-box, other than the android client
- it is for hosting your own repo
some commentary:
really, this question about f-droid pertains to many programs - myself, i would
not want to ask this question in the context of only one specific program - i
would ask and decide the question in general, then apply the decision to all of
them at once
if the entry is intended to be about the client software, i think what i would
do is to add a warning, like:
If you use this client to access the main f-droid software repository,
be aware that it contains both free and non-free software,
perhaps with no indication of which is which,
and so use it with due diligence (at your own risk).
_but_ ... i would also add the same warning (perhaps as a wiki template) to
any program which searches, downloads, or installs other software (third-party
package manager behaviors), such as pip, docker, flatpack, and many others, if
any of those are in the FSD
i would also remove mention of the "The F-Droid Repository" entirely - if my
assumptions are correct, then that entry is for the server, not the client or
the third-party repo, so to mention the repo seems to be irrelevant -
presumably, the server software has no relation to "The F-Droid Repository" -
the FSD also describes the repo as "catalogue of free software applications",
which i think we all agree was never true, even when that was written