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author | Daniel Baumann <daniel@debian.org> | 2007-09-23 10:04:50 +0200 |
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committer | Daniel Baumann <daniel@debian.org> | 2011-03-09 18:18:29 +0100 |
commit | 4739146fc6c4de8b16418517bb882312c475195c (patch) | |
tree | a3c29d97d1ead4ad4fa532b1c6bfdb419f160e71 /includes/etch/install/doc/debian-manifesto | |
parent | 1863ed88740575342008ac5f694d03e944bcece2 (diff) | |
download | live-build-4739146fc6c4de8b16418517bb882312c475195c.zip live-build-4739146fc6c4de8b16418517bb882312c475195c.tar.gz |
Adding live-helper 1.0~a6-1.
Diffstat (limited to 'includes/etch/install/doc/debian-manifesto')
-rw-r--r-- | includes/etch/install/doc/debian-manifesto | 135 |
1 files changed, 135 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/includes/etch/install/doc/debian-manifesto b/includes/etch/install/doc/debian-manifesto new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9322c93 --- /dev/null +++ b/includes/etch/install/doc/debian-manifesto @@ -0,0 +1,135 @@ +Please note that this document is provided in order to document +Debian's history. While the general ideas still apply some details +changed. + + +******************** +Appendix +The Debian Manifesto +******************** + + + The Debian Linux Manifesto + + Written by Ian A. Murdock + Revised 01/06/94 + + +What is Debian Linux? +===================== + +Debian Linux is a brand-new kind of Linux distribution. Rather than +being developed by one isolated individual or group, as other +distributions of Linux have been developed in the past, Debian is being +developed openly in the spirit of Linux and GNU. The primary purpose +of the Debian project is to finally create a distribution that lives up +to the Linux name. Debian is being carefully and conscientiously put +together and will be maintained and supported with similar care. + +It is also an attempt to create a non-commercial distribution that will +be able to effectively compete in the commercial market. It will +eventually be distributed by The Free Software Foundation on CD-ROM, +and The Debian Linux Association will offer the distribution on floppy +disk and tape along with printed manuals, technical support and other +end-user essentials. All of the above will be available at little more +than cost, and the excess will be put toward further development of +free software for all users. Such distribution is essential to the +success of the Linux operating system in the commercial market, and it +must be done by organizations in a position to successfully advance and +advocate free software without the pressure of profits or returns. + + +Why is Debian being constructed? +================================ + +Distributions are essential to the future of Linux. Essentially, they +eliminate the need for the user to locate, download, compile, install +and integrate a fairly large number of essential tools to assemble a +working Linux system. Instead, the burden of system construction is +placed on the distribution creator, whose work can be shared with +thousands of other users. Almost all users of Linux will get their +first taste of it through a distribution, and most users will continue +to use a distribution for the sake of convenience even after they are +familiar with the operating system. Thus, distributions play a very +important role indeed. + +Despite their obvious importance, distributions have attracted little +attention from developers. There is a simple reason for this: they are +neither easy nor glamorous to construct and require a great deal of +ongoing effort from the creator to keep the distribution bug-free and +up-to-date. It is one thing to put together a system from scratch; it +is quite another to ensure that the system is easy for others to +install, is installable and usable under a wide variety of hardware +configurations, contains software that others will find useful, and is +updated when the components themselves are improved. + +Many distributions have started out as fairly good systems, but as time +passes attention to maintaining the distribution becomes a secondary +concern. A case-in-point is the Softlanding Linux System (better known +as SLS). It is quite possibly the most bug-ridden and badly maintained +Linux distribution available; unfortunately, it is also quite possibly +the most popular. It is, without question, the distribution that +attracts the most attention from the many commercial "distributors" of +Linux that have surfaced to capitalize on the growing popularity of the +operating system. + +This is a bad combination indeed, as most people who obtain Linux from +these "distributors" receive a bug-ridden and badly maintained Linux +distribution. As if this wasn't bad enough, these "distributors" have +a disturbing tendency to misleadingly advertise non-functional or +extremely unstable "features" of their product. Combine this with the +fact that the buyers will, of course, expect the product to live up to +its advertisement and the fact that many may believe it to be a +commercial operating system (there is also a tendency not to mention +that Linux is free nor that it is distributed under the GNU General +Public License). To top it all off, these "distributors" are actually +making enough money from their effort to justify buying larger +advertisements in more magazines; it is the classic example of +unacceptable behavior being rewarded by those who simply do not know +any better. Clearly something needs to be done to remedy the +situation. + + +How will Debian attempt to put an end to these problems? +======================================================== + +The Debian design process is open to ensure that the system is of the +highest quality and that it reflects the needs of the user community. +By involving others with a wide range of abilities and backgrounds, +Debian is able to be developed in a modular fashion. Its components +are of high quality because those with expertise in a certain area are +given the opportunity to construct or maintain the individual +components of Debian involving that area. Involving others also +ensures that valuable suggestions for improvement can be incorporated +into the distribution during its development; thus, a distribution is +created based on the needs and wants of the users rather than the needs +and wants of the constructor. It is very difficult for one individual +or small group to anticipate these needs and wants in advance without +direct input from others. + +Debian Linux will also be distributed on physical media by the Free +Software Foundation and the Debian Linux Association. This provides +Debian to users without access to the Internet or FTP and additionally +makes products and services such as printed manuals and technical +support available to all users of the system. In this way, Debian may +be used by many more individuals and organizations than is otherwise +possible, the focus will be on providing a first-class product and not +on profits or returns, and the margin from the products and services +provided may be used to improve the software itself for all users +whether they paid to obtain it or not. + +The Free Software Foundation plays an extremely important role in the +future of Debian. By the simple fact that they will be distributing +it, a message is sent to the world that Linux is not a commercial +product and that it never should be, but that this does not mean that +Linux will never be able to compete commercially. For those of you who +disagree, I challenge you to rationalize the success of GNU Emacs and +GCC, which are not commercial software but which have had quite an +impact on the commercial market regardless of that fact. + +The time has come to concentrate on the future of Linux rather than on +the destructive goal of enriching oneself at the expense of the entire +Linux community and its future. The development and distribution of +Debian may not be the answer to the problems that I have outlined in +the Manifesto, but I hope that it will at least attract enough +attention to these problems to allow them to be solved. |