[Mageia-dev] Mageia repository sections, licenses, restrictions, firmware etc

Wed Oct 13 16:49:18 CEST 2010

Tux99 a écrit :
+> On Wed, 13 Oct 2010, [UTF-8] Marc ParÃ© wrote:
+>
+>    
+>> Le 2010-10-12 22:04, Tux99 a Ã©crit :
+>>      
+>>> According to your logic that would mean we can't include ssh, openssl, pgp,
+>>> and even https support in any browser.
+>>> Does that seems reasonable to you?
+>>>
+>>> You need to face it, it would be impossible to make a distro that is legal
+>>> in every country of the world and at the same time is of any use to the
+>>> users.
+>>> Therefore I don't see the need why we should comply with US patent laws
+>>> when we don't comply with for example Chinese encryption laws.
+>>>
+>>>        
+>> All of your points are exactly what I am trying to point out and even
+>> reinforce my concerns. These are all true. This is why, in my opinion,
+>> the Mageia distro should not be installing all of these controversial
+>> software packages by default.
+>>      
+> Are you seriously suggesting Mageia should produce a distro without ssh,
+> openssl and even with all browsers stripped of https support?
+>
+> I can imagine how popular that would be with the majority of users...
+>
+>    
+>> This would then remove that layer of liability from the Mageia
+>> project group. In my opinion, Mageia should be wary in wanting to
+>> install a fully functioning distro if this means using software packages
+>> that may get it into trouble (Mageia itself).
+>>      
+> But here lies the mistake in your reasoning. Mageia doesn't have to
+> exclude all those packages, since the only liability Mageia has, is
+> towards the French laws.
+>
+> So the sensible choice is to base the choice of packages to include on
+> French law. It is up to the user to make sure he/she only installs and
+> uses packages that are legal in his/her country.
+>    
+
+Excuse me if I'm wrong -- but you seem to be arguing at cross purposes.
+Marc says don't install codecs by default, and Tux99 (and many others) 
+say codecs must be included in the distro so the user can choose to 
+install them.
+Simple solution - include them in the distro, but not installed by default.
+Where is the problem ?
+
+To make things easier, maybe we should put seriously threatened software 
+in the non-free section ?  (I mean software which is *known* to have 
+problems, not those just *rumoured* to have.)
+In any case, I would certainly avoid excluding useful codecs from the 
+distribution ISOs.
+
+By the way, it is not only what is permitted in France, but also what is 
+permitted in the countries where the mirrors are hosted.  Here in 
+Canada, there is (no longer) a mirror for Mandriva, so the nearest 
+Mandriva mirrors are in the U.S.
+
+A few years back, the U.S. restricted severely encryption, unlike in 
+Canada and most of the rest of the world.  So to have normal encryption 
+with Mozilla software, we in Canada had to download Mozilla from Europe, 
+since there were at that time no mirrors for Mozilla in Canada.  Luckily 
+the U.S. no longer has such restrictions.
+Having to download an entire distro from Europe would be much more 
+problematic.
+So it is useful to consider the laws in likely mirror locations.
+For North America, Canada is always a good choice :)
+
+my 2 cents:)
+
+- André (andre999)
+