How can I tell if a license is a free software license, by Debians standards?
The process involves human judgement. The DFSG is an attempt to articulate our criteria. But the DFSG is not a contract. This means that if you think you’ve found a loophole in the DFSG then you don’t quite understand how this works. The DFSG is a potentially imperfect attempt to express what free software means to Debian. It is not something whose letter we argue about. It is not a law. Rather, it is a set of guidelines. That said, the DFSG is a good start. You might also consider a few thought experiments which we often apply. But do keep in mind that passing some set of tests is not all there is to freeness. These tests are not the final word either: some other tricky bit of nonfreeness might be invented which is not covered by any of our current tests, or something might fail a test as it is currently worded but still be determined to be free software.
Related Questions
- If something is free software according tono Debians standards, don I still face legal risks when I use, modify oro distribute it?
- If something is free software according to Debians standards, do I still face legal risks when I use, modify or distribute it?
- How can I tell if a license is a free software license, by Debians standards?
