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

[Lucas Nussbaum]

On 11/09/21 at 21:47 +0200, Ole Tange wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 7, 2021 at 11:06 AM Lucas Nussbaum <lucas at debian.org> wrote:
> :
> > (1) the wording almost requires citation
> 
> I take this as you agree that it does not require citation.

[...]

> > With a wrong eye, one could even see it as extortion/blackmail.
> 
> To me extortion/blackmail is when I have done something that I cannot
> undo and now I have to pay to keep it a secret.
> 
> If you feel it can be seen as extortion/blackmail: Would it not make
> it even *more* important that the researchers read the citation notice
> *before* using the software?
> 
> To me it could never be perceived as neither extortion nor blackmail:
> 
> * The user is aware of the citation notice when he starts using GNU Parallel
> * There are plenty of alternatives - more than 50 of them are even
> mentioned in the documentation
> * If you feel GNU Parallel does not contribute enough to warrant a
> citation: Prove it by using an alternative
> 
> Would it be fair to summarize your critique as you in your personal
> opinion do not like the citation notice, but there are neither legal
> nor technical reasons for this? In other words: It is a matter of
> taste.

For context, what GNU parallel currently displays (in the development
version):

> Academic tradition requires you to cite works you base your article on.
> If you use programs that use GNU Parallel to process data for an article in a
> scientific publication, please cite:
> 
>   Tange, O. (2021, August 22). GNU Parallel 20210822 ('Kabul').
>   Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5233953
> 
> This helps funding further development; AND IT WON'T COST YOU A CENT.
> If you pay 10000 EUR you should feel free to use GNU Parallel without citing.
> 
> More about funding GNU Parallel and the citation notice:
> https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/parallel_design.html#Citation-notice
> 
> To silence this citation notice: run 'parallel --citation' once.

I disagree with:

> Academic tradition requires you to cite works you base your article on.

This is too strong. I would agree with something less general such as:

> Academic tradition is to cite works one bases their articles on.

If I use Debian as the OS for experiments in an article, there's no
reason to cite it (but there might be good reasons to mention it, as it
could influence reproducibility). Also, citations are generally based on
ideas/concepts. The use of GNU parallel for data processing is most
likely a technicality, unless the paper is about parallel data
processing.

> If you use programs that use GNU Parallel to process data for an article in a
> scientific publication, please cite:
> 
>   Tange, O. (2021, August 22). GNU Parallel 20210822 ('Kabul').
>   Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5233953

That part is OK and fairly standard for scientific software.

> This helps funding further development; AND IT WON'T COST YOU A CENT.
> If you pay 10000 EUR you should feel free to use GNU Parallel without citing.

This is misleading. If I don't pay 10000 EUR and don't cite, I should
still feel totally free to use GNU parallel without citing, if GNU
parallel is simply free software under the GNU GPL.

In the FAQ, you also wrote:

> Q: I do not think it is fair having to cite

> R: If the inconvenience of having to cite is too big for you, then you
> should use another tool.

Which is also too strong. it's not an "inconvenience of having to cite",
but an inconvenience of "being gently asked to cite", for example.

I'm actually very surprised that the GNU project allows this in an official
GNU package.

Lucas