Re: Fedora Freedom and linux-libre

[Alexandre Oliva <aoliva redhat com>]

On Jun 14, 2008, Les Mikesell <lesmikesell gmail com> wrote:

> Alexandre Oliva wrote:

>> They didn't choose to distribute that particular content, so no,
>> they're just carriers, like the air through which the bullet flies on
>> the way to its target.

> How would this be different on a moderated list?

That would depend on the role of the moderators.  If it's merely to
ensure that postings don't deviate from the rules of the list, then I
suppose they would still be regarded as carriers.  If approval means
endorsement to the statements in the message, then they might become
co-responsible.

> Look through the changelogs of some software packages to see how
> many flaws past versions have contained. Do you hold the
> distributors responsible for all those problems?

Again, it depends (heck, I'm talking more and more like a lawyer, even
though I'm not one :-)

For example, per Brazilian consumer protection law, if I purchase
something as a consumer, I'm entitled to warranty.  No ifs or buts.

Regardless of whatever my relationship with the copyright holders of
the Free Software in the product I purchased is (I got a copyright
license from them that states there's no warranty), the vendor who
performed the distribution to me is responsible for providing me with
warranty.

-- 
Alexandre Oliva         http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/
Free Software Evangelist  oliva {lsd ic unicamp br, gnu.org}
FSFLA Board Member       ¡Sé Libre! => http://www.fsfla.org/
Red Hat Compiler Engineer   aoliva {redhat com, gcc.gnu.org}