We promise that the debian system and all its components will. Boston, massachusetts, usa monday, september 8, 2014 the free software foundation fsf and the debian project today announced cooperation to expand and enhance hnode, a database to help users learn and share information about computers that work with free software operating systems. The definition was taken from the exact text of the debian free software guidelines, written and adapted primarily by bruce perens with input from the debian developers on a private debian mailing list. The open source definition annotated open source initiative.
Debian software packages in bullseye, subsection admin. Debian, the producers of the debian system, have created the debian social contract. You may know me as the primary author of the debian free software guidelines and the open source definition. The debian free software guidelines dfsg part of the contract. Debian was begun in august 1993 by ian murdock, and was sponsored by the free. From time to time we revise this definition, to clarify it or to resolve questions about subtle issues.
The free software definition presents the criteria for whether a particular software program qualifies as free software. Free software is software that can be freely used, modified, and redistributed with only one restriction. The debian free software guidelines dfsg are a set of guidelines that the debian project uses to determine whether the license used by a piece of software qualifies as a free software license. Debian free software guidelines simple english wikipedia. In 1997 debian, a project aiming to create a completely free and community based gnulinux distribution, developed the debian free software guidelines as a checklist whether a program can be included in the distribution or not. The precise meaning of free software is spelled out in the debian free software guidelines or the free software definition while open source is. Built on the linux kernel, debian gnulinux is an opensource and free operating system os that is based on a graphical user interface gui. You can find out more about debian linux and the debian project at the wwve. Free software is easily confused with freeware, a term describing software that can be freely downloaded and used but which may contain restrictions for modification and reuse. The open source definition is a document published by the open source initiative, to determine whether a software license can be labeled with the opensource certification mark.
The debian project has developed its own definition of free software. Computer programs are deemed free if they give users. Software packages in buster, subsection science 3depict 0. Historically, free software was the first term, created 1986 together with the free software definition. Heres their source on github if you want to see it. Debian software packages in buster, subsection science. The english meaning of the word free, as in free speech refers to. The document was created 9 months before the formation of the open source initiative. Free software, open source, foss, floss same same but. The free software foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. Fsf and debian join forces to help free software users find.
And you may remember me for having brought the tiger map database to free software. Only software that complies with the dfsg is allowed in the main distribution of. The debian free software guidelines dfsg is a set of guidelines that the debian project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in debian. Debianlegal is a debian mailing list for the discussion of legal questions related to debian, including in particular whether some package or prospective.
Contrib if a piece of software passes the dfsg, but depends on a package from nonfree, then such a package goes here. Access a repository, a cd, or other distribution media that. Sep 26, 2017 the text of the open source definition is taken directly from the debian free software guidelines dfsg. The earliestknown publication of the definition was in the february. Debra ian a linuxbased operating system developed by ian murdock in 1993 and named after his future wife and himself. Thats the only input he had, as the text had already been written and adopted as the dfsg eight months previously and was not modified other than removal of. The core image is about 200mb to download and 750mb once extracted, it only includes a basic debian install with no gui. As open source software, debian is developed by over 500 contributing programmers who collectively form the. These repositories should contain most of the software you will want to install, allowing you not to rely on external sources. Since many different licenses are used on software, a set of guidelines, the debian free software guidelines dfsg were developed to come up with a reasonable definition of what constitutes free software. If your machine has only one hard disk, and you would like to completely replace the current operating system with debian gnulinux, you also can wait to partition as part of the installation process section 6. Thus, free software is a matter of liberty, not price. Debian free software guidelines how is debian free software.
The small image is about 600mb to download and 2gb once extracted, this included the xfce gui and basic programs. Debian can be downloaded over the internet or, for a small charge, obtained on cd. Debian free definitions by babylon babylon software. Debian is a free operating system os for your computer. I suggested to eric that i use the alreadywritten debian free software guidelines as the open source definition. There are some tools they make themselves listed on that page. A philosophical doctrine or approach to life that emphasizes social unity and generosity of spirit. Free software means software that respects users freedom and community. The free software definition written by richard stallman and published by free software foundation fsf, defines free software as being software that ensures that the end users have freedom in using, studying, sharing and modifying that software. Define debian by websters dictionary, wordnet lexical database, dictionary of computing, legal dictionary, medical dictionary, dream dictionary. Open source refers to the fact that the source code of free software is open to and for the world to take, to modify and to reuse. The concept of free software is the brainchild of richard stallman, head of the gnu project. If you have to install a software package on a linux system, heres how the process would work.
Looking for online definition of debian or what debian stands for. Debian is a unixlike computer operating system that is composed entirely of free software, most of which is under the gnu general public license, and packaged by a group of individuals known as the debian project. Debian linux software free download debian linux top 4. Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. The image folder contains the debian image files, there are three images you can chose from, core, small and large. This means that the debian social contract and debian free software guidelines are now foundation documents, and may be modified by a 3. Does installing nonfree software from debian nonfree. Fsf and debian join forces to help free software users. The debian free software guidelines dfsg is a set of guidelines that the debian project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software.
Free software, open source, foss, floss same same but different. These guidelines have been adopted as the basis of the open source definition. Debian free software guidelines how is debian free software guidelines abbreviated. The recommended way to install new software on debian, is to use package management tools to install packages from the official repositories. There have been a number of attempts to codify these freedoms, which include the freedom to modify and distribute. Debian synonyms, debian pronunciation, debian translation, english dictionary definition of debian.
Introduction open source hardware oshw is a term for tangible artifacts machines, devices, or other physical things. The debian free software guidelines dfsg is a set of guidelines rules that the debian project uses to decide whether a software license is a free software license, which is used to decide whether a piece of software can be included in debian. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. Debian is an example of a distributor of a linux package. The precise meaning of free software is spelled out in the debian free software guidelines or the free software definition while open source is defined officially by the open source definition. Bruce perens, debian free software guidelines an open.
The term free is used in the sense of free speech, not of free of charge. Debian free software guidelines wikipedia republished. Over the years, debian was the basis for more than 300 derivatives, of which. Debian free software guidelines last updated march 30, 2020. The universal os note, most of debian is just reusing other components from other projects. Running on all major platforms, debian is noted for the thousands of applications that accompany the distribution. The dfsg is part of the debian social contract with the free software community. The definition of free software is stipulated as part of the gnu project and by the.
Proposal a in the vote to disambiguate constitution section 4. When we talk about free software, we are talking about freedom, not price. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. The dfsg is a very influential document in the free software movement, and was the foundation of the the open source definition. That definition was created by bruce perens and the debian developers as the debian free software guidelines. To answer common questions about the debian free software guidelines and how we judge whether some piece of software is free. I created the dfsg and the debian social contract, and submitted the first draft to the debian developers on their mailing list in june of 1997. Access software for a blind person flite speech driver brlttyspeechd 6. We provide the guidelines that we use to determine if a work is free in the document entitled the debian free software guidelines. This distinction is critical because it determines whether a piece of software qualifies for inclusion in the debian project. This distinction is critical because it determines whether a piece of. An english dictionary lists almost twenty different meanings for free.
Running on all major platforms, debian is noted for the thousands of. Debian definition of debian by websters online dictionary. The fsf promotes the development and use of free as in freedom software particularly the gnu operating system and its gnulinux variants and free documentation for free software. Debian definition of debian by the free dictionary. The debian project is a notforprofit group of volunteers committed to the concept of free, opensource software, and to the goal of providing a stable, reliable, free operating system. Its time to talk about free software again im bruce perens. Nonfree proprietary packages or software that does not pass the debian free software guidelines dfsg belong here. The debian project is a strong supporter of free software.
Debian free software guidelines dfsg and software license faq. Although this document can be considered separate, it formally is part of the social contract. Debian project article about debian project by the free. More precisely, this definition consists of a set of. The debian project abides by a social contract to our users that specifies all software included in the operating system will be free software, meaning that it can be freely redistributed, modified, used, etc. The open source definition was originally derived from the debian free software guidelines dfsg. The software in the debian repositories has been proven to integrate with debian and is updated when necessary to maintain security in so far as such is possible with non free software.
Debian linux software free download debian linux top 4 download offers free software downloads for windows, mac, ios and android computers and mobile devices. Debian is a popular and freelyavailable computer operating system that uses the linux kernel and other program components obtained from the gnu project. Debian, the producers of the debian gnulinux system, have created the debian social contract. Only software that complies with the dfsg is allowed in the main distribution of debian. The best known example of free software is linux, an operating system that is proposed as an alternative to windows or other proprietary operating systems. Although debian gnulinux itself is free software, it is a base upon which value added linux distributions can be built. Debian free software guidelines wikipedia republished wiki 2. For our purposes, it must conform with the debian free software guidelines. Debian free software guidelines how is debian free. Last modified, 20070322 the content on this website, of which is the author, is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.
The debian free software guidelines dfsg part of the contract, initially designed as a set of commitments that we agree to abide by, has been adopted by the free software community as the basis of the open source definition. See the history section below for a list of changes that affect the definition of free software. The same ideals are expressed in the open source definition and the free software foundations four freedoms. Debians linux distribution is dedicated to free and open source software. The debian free software guidelines define the criteria for free software and thus what software is permissible in the distribution. It incorporates gnu project tools and capabilities and is packaged with thousands of software applications for easy installation and execution. If you find a link to the license on the original site, feel free to change it. Definition english open source hardware association.
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