AppStream Ideas and Thoughts

[Matthias Klumpp]

On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:04:39 +0100, Éric Araujo <merwok at netwok.org> wrote:
>>>>> <snip>
> That’s my point: I don’t install software that’s not provided by Debian
> unless I really need it and I can review the code or trust the people
> behind the project :)
> 
> Even when I trust that a piece of software won’t rm -rf my $HOME,
> assessing freeness is a specialized skill; it has happened not a few
> times that existing code or data files with unclear or non-free status
> have been included in a free software project.  Debian developers and
> FTP masters do have the expertise, time and willingness to look into
> each file to make sure the project is indeed free, and for that, users
> like me are extremely thankful.
Interesting... So this is a social issue: You need to trust someone. But
if you trust Debian, which does great in spreading the idea of free
software, why won't you trust developer X, who is e.g. also a DD and
free-software enthusiast?
Also, is it freedom to be limited to the stuff your platform (Debian)
provides? Of course, it's the ideal and most secure way to go, but to
really get the absolute freedom to choose, you need the ability to easily
install (trusted) 3rd-party free software or even proprietary software.
(Cause to choose a proprietary tool is also a freedom someone needs to
have. (although I would always prefer the free software)
By signing all 3rd-party app "packages", the system administrator also
could easily block all 3rd-party software, except something which is signed
with e.g. Debian's or Google's key.
Cheers
   Matthias