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On 2015.10.24 13:33, Sven Vermeulen wrote: |
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[snip good stuff] |
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> Wkr, |
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> Sven Vermeulen |
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> |
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> |
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We need to draw a distinction between what goes into the distro and the tools used to produce and support the distro. |
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The what goes into the distro must adhere to the social contract. I can think of a few examples that Gentoo |
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includes as options that are not social contract compliant but Gentoo does not depend on them. |
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I will give an example later. |
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Tools can be divided into two groups too. Convenience tools and must have tools. |
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github falls into the former category. It can be replaced. We used to work without github, we could again. |
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It might not be as good a workflow but we would still distribute the same distro. |
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Developers who want to write code in Word on Windows (any version) can. The text files will be the same as any other $EDITOR |
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In the must have tools group are the tools used to distribute Gentoo. rsync, wget, ftp etc. |
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There is plenty of choice but we could go back to CDs and snail mail. |
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I can't think of any 'must have' tools that do not have alternatives. |
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Back to my example. Consider the binary blob graphics drivers. |
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They are not open source but we are permitted to distribute them under their licences. |
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There are alternatives therefore Gentoo does not depend on them. |
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Lets take that one step further ... |
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Say nVidia buys up all the graphics card chip makers in the world, including Intel. |
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The make a new graphics engine that cannot be supported by open source - only the binary blob exists. |
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That would give us a Social Contract issue. Either drop Xorg altogether or ship a binary driver that could |
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not comply with the social contract. Probably worse, make a distro that supported the blob but not ship the blob. |
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Readers with a long memory will remember a time when the nVidia driver could not be distributed, so Gentoo has been there. |
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Until this whatif, there has always been alternatives. |
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We can get picky. The example of the software running on routers has already been cited. |
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What about PC boot ROMs. Does Gentoo need to 'depend on' core-boot? |
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I'll conclude by offering the opinion that the Social Contract applies to the contents of Gentoo and any |
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tools used to produce the distro that do not have alternatives. |
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-- |
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Regards, |
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Roy Bamford |
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(Neddyseagoon) a member of |
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elections |
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gentoo-ops |
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forum-mods |
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trustees |
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