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Opinion: Absolutism hurting Debian
Jan. 05, 2009

The 5.0 ("Lenny") release of Debian Linux has been delayed by a philosophical rift among project developers. In a thoughtful essay entitled "Debian, Philosophy, and People," Linux Foundation Fellow Ted T'so draws examples from literature, religion, and philosophy in renouncing the free software absolutism of Debian's Social Contract.

Debian 5.0, codenamed "Lenny," gained an installer in November. However, debates over whether to distribute binary drivers with its kernel have apparently delayed a final release. The matter was ultimately put to vote, but the results seem only to have created more controversy and discussion.

T'so, for one, favors softening the "100 percent free" mandate in Debian's Social Contract, pointing out that such absolutism is rarely if ever appropriate. Even mandates such as "Thou shalt not kill" may have exceptions, he suggests. T'so also suggests that helping others may be a higher moral imperative, ultimately, than dogmatic adherence to a philosophical ideal.

T'so joined the Linux Foundation about a year ago, with the aim of furthering the Linux Standards Base, an important standard that aims to increase software compatibility across Linux distributions. His essay can be found here.


-- Henry Kingman


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