[Debian-med-packaging] Bug#915541: Removal of upstream "--will-cite" functionality has been reverted

[Ole Tange]

Ian Turner <vectro at vectro.org> wrote:
> On 8/28/21 7:41 AM, Andreas Tille wrote:
>>I updated the patch in Git[1] but did not yet activate it yet.  I'm fine
>>with uploading parallel with the patch activated if you really think we
>>should disrespect the wish of the author and insist on plain GPL text.
>
> My reading of bug 905674 is that the citation notice has been previously
> judged to be incompatible with the DFSG and that's why it was removed.
> Also ultimately Debian developers will have to make their own decision,
> though if you are asking my personal opinion, I think it would be best to
> remove it.

The only license that gives you the right to change the source code is GPLv3.

#905674 and #915541 refer to the wording of version 20141022. The
current wording (20210722) has been cleared by Richard M. Stallman to
be compatible with GPLv3. This is because the citation notice is not
part of the license, but part of academic tradition (this was not
clear in version 20141022).

DFSG mentions "The license must not restrict anyone from making use of
the program in a specific field of endeavor", and since the academic
tradition is not part of the license and since the tradition does not
"restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of
endeavor", it is hard to see, how you would argue the wording of
version 20210722 does not adhere to DFSG (the wording in 20141022 was
different, and it is this old wording that is the background for
#905674 and referred in
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=915541#5).

If your stance is based on reading #905674 I will encourage you to
read the current wording, and argue how the current wording does not
adhere to DFSG.

If you disagree with Richard M. Stallman's interpretation of GPLv3 and
feel the citation notice does not adhere to GPLv3, you should treat
the software as if it is not available under GPLv3. And since GPLv3 is
the only thing that would give you the right to change it, you would
not be allowed to change the software.

In other words: If you want to remove the citation notice to make the
software compliant with your interpretation of GPLv3, you first have
to accept that the software is already compliant with GPLv3, because
nothing else gives you the right to change it. And if you accept this,
you do not need to change it to make it compliant.


Citations are what indirectly fund maintaining GNU Parallel (for
details see: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/parallel.git/tree/doc/citation-notice-faq.txt).
Before the citation notice was implemented hardly anyone cited GNU
Parallel, and that would not have been sustainable in the long term.

Therefore it is more important to keep the notice than to be included
in different distributions. Specifically, it will be preferable to be
moved from Debian main to Debian non-free over having the notice
removed (and staying in main).

In other words: It is preferable having fewer users, who all know they
should cite, over having many users, who do not know they should cite.

This is because long-term survival with funding is more important than
short-term gains in popularity that can be achieved by being
distributed as part of a distribution.

If the goal had been to get more users, then the license would have
been public domain.


By removing the citation notice you are knowingly making it harder for
me to justify spending time on developing GNU Parallel, and sending a
signal to future developers that Debian does not care about their long
term survival - only short term benefits to the project. I hope we can
agree we want more free software in the future - not less.

> I am among those not persuaded by Ole's arguments to the
> contrary, in the specific context of the Debian project.

If the revised wording (from version 20141022 to version 20210722)
does not change your opinion, I feel the only compromise that is
acceptable to all the active parties is to keep the citation notice
even if this means moving the software from main to non-free.


/Ole