Debian Free Software Guidelines Facts for Kids

The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) are a set of rules that the Debian Project uses. They help decide if a software license is a free software license. If a software's license follows these rules, the software can be included in Debian. The DFSG is an important part of the Debian Social Contract, which is like a promise Debian makes to its users.

What are the Guidelines?
How the Guidelines Started
How the Guidelines are Used
Tests for DFSG Rules
See also

What are the Guidelines?

The DFSG has ten main points that software must follow to be considered "free" by Debian:

Free sharing: You must be able to give copies of the software to anyone, without paying extra fees.
Source code included: The software must come with its "source code." This is the human-readable version of the program, like the recipe for a cake.
Allowing changes: People must be able to change the software and create new versions based on it.
Author's code: If someone changes the software, they might need to keep the original author's name or mark their changes clearly.
No unfair treatment: The license cannot stop certain people or groups from using the software.
No limits on use: The license cannot stop people from using the software for any purpose, even for business.
License applies to everyone: If you share the software, the same rules must apply to everyone who gets a copy.
Not specific to one product: The license should not only work for one specific software product.
No restrictions on other software: The license should not stop other software from being free.
Examples of free licenses: Licenses like the GNU GPL, BSD, and Artistic are good examples of licenses that follow these rules.

How the Guidelines Started

The DFSG first came out in July 1997. It was part of the first version of the Debian Social Contract.

The main person who wrote the DFSG was Bruce Perens. He got ideas from other Debian developers. Bruce realized that Debian needed a formal promise to its users, just like other projects. So, he started creating the Social Contract, which included the DFSG.

Soon after, the exact words of the DFSG were used to create the Open Source Definition. This definition helped start the "open source" movement. Before the DFSG, the Free Software Foundation had its own Free Software Definition. This definition talked about the "freedoms" of software. After the DFSG became the Open Source Definition, Richard Stallman pushed his Free Software Definition even more. He wanted to show the difference between "free software" and "open source" software.

Even though there were some ideas for changes in 1998, the DFSG document itself has never been officially updated since it was first written.

How the Guidelines are Used

For Software

Most talks about the DFSG happen on a special email list called debian-legal. When a Debian developer wants to add new software to Debian, a team checks its licenses. They make sure the licenses follow the DFSG. If there are tough questions, the team often asks the debian-legal list for help.

For Other Content

The DFSG was mostly made for computer programs. But the word "software" can be confusing. Does it mean only programs, or does it include other digital things? To make it clear, in June 2004, the Debian project decided to apply the same rules to other content. This includes things like software documentation (user manuals), pictures, videos, and sounds. Starting with Debian 4.0 (released in April 2007), non-program content in Debian began to follow the DFSG more strictly.

GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)

Many documents from the GNU Project use the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). Some of these documents have "invariant sections." These are parts that cannot be changed. This rule about unchanging sections does not fit with the DFSG's idea of allowing all modifications.

Because of these invariant sections, content under the GFDL cannot be part of the main Debian system. Instead, it is kept in a separate "non-free" section. This "non-free" section is not officially considered part of Debian.

Multimedia Files

It can sometimes be tricky to figure out what the "source" is for multimedia files. For example, is a large, uncompressed image file the "source" for a smaller, compressed image? Or is a 3D model the "source" for a picture made from it? These questions make it harder to apply the DFSG rules to multimedia.

Tests for DFSG Rules

The people on the debian-legal email list have created some fun tests to see if a license follows the DFSG. Here are a few:

The Desert Island Test: Imagine you are stuck on a desert island with a computer that runs on solar power. You can't send messages to the outside world, but you can receive them. If you change some software, can you still legally share your changes with friends on the island? A free license must let you do this, even if you can't tell the original author about your changes.

The Dissident Test: Imagine you live in a country where the government controls everything. You want to share a changed piece of software with other people who disagree with the government. But you don't want the government to know who changed it, or even that you have the program. A free license must not force you to tell anyone about your changes, except the person you give the software to.

The Tentacles of Evil Test: Imagine the person who created the software is hired by a very bad company. This company wants to make life hard for everyone using the software. They want to stop people from using it, or even get them into legal trouble. A truly free license must be strong enough that even the original author cannot take away your freedoms.

Debian Free Software Guidelines facts for kids

Contents