On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 15:20:36 -0700, Hubert Chan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> Leaving aside the (seemingly) highly charged issue of the Emacs manual > and the GNU Manifesto, let's go into the fantasy world. Let's say > that I write some software, and some documentation for it. Suppose > that I license the documentation under the GFDL, and I include an > essay about why I like free software as an invariant section. Suppose > that I make some good, new, convincing arguments (that's where the > fantasy comes in), but my writing style is a bit off at times (that > part would be reality). And then there's that part where I go off on > a tangent about my pet platypus... Replying to myself... (They say that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity.) Sorry for completely missing the obvious: invariant sections prohibit distribution of the invariant section itself as a separate document. Suppose that I write my essay about why I like free software, and make it an invariant section in my documentation on how to use echo(1). Somebody likes my essay (despite my tangent about my pet platypus), and wants to distribute it to convince his friends to use free software. The GFDL would actually prevent that person from extracting my essay and distributing it as a document to his friends, even if he distributes my essay verbatim. (Huh? The GFDL may hinder the promotion of free software? What a strange world we live in.) I'm to lazy to write go through the complete reasoning again right now, but it's essentially the same as what I wrote in a previous message[1], (which nobody seems to have objected to yet (which I can only assume to mean that either I am correct, or that my reasoning is too stupid to warrant a response)). [1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2006/02/msg00312.html It should be fairly clear how the above reasoning applies to the situation mentioned in this message, but if needed, I might feel inclined to explain it again in detail tomorrow. But it seems to me that, even worse than the GFDL preventing useful modification of invariant sections, it also prevents useful distribution of invariant sections. -- Hubert Chan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - http://www.uhoreg.ca/ PGP/GnuPG key: 1024D/124B61FA Fingerprint: 96C5 012F 5F74 A5F7 1FF7 5291 AF29 C719 124B 61FA Key available at wwwkeys.pgp.net. Encrypted e-mail preferred. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
