175 lines
5.6 KiB
HTML
175 lines
5.6 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
|
|
|
|
<html>
|
|
<version>1</version>
|
|
<author id="gerloff"/>
|
|
<date>
|
|
<original content="2011-03-03"/>
|
|
</date>
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Debian receives Linux New Media Award</title>
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<h1>Debian receives Linux New Media Award</h1>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
I'm here to congratulate the Debian project. Debian has recently taken
|
|
a nearly unprecedented step, one that many people thought would never
|
|
come to pass: The project has updated its website design.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Today, Debian receives the "Linux New Media Award" for its
|
|
*outstanding contribution* to Free Software. I could hardly think of a
|
|
more fitting recipient for such an award.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian is coming of age, literally. In August, the distribution
|
|
will turn 18.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian offers great technology. It's stable. Really stable. It's
|
|
highly flexible, and performs well in lots of different roles. IT
|
|
supports more different architectures than almost anything else out
|
|
there. It runs on pretty much anything. The package management is
|
|
great. It makes a highly complex system of almost 30,000 packages
|
|
extremely simple to configure and use.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian started out as a true pioneer. When the project was created in
|
|
1993, the whole concept of a "distribution" wasn't too well
|
|
established. Ian Murdock announced the project thus:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p style="margin-left: 1em;">
|
|
"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. [...] Debian
|
|
is being carefully and conscientiously put together and will be
|
|
maintained and supported with similar care."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
At a recent conference, the current Debian project lead, Stefano
|
|
Zacchiroli, gave a talk titled "Who the bloody hell cares about
|
|
Debian?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Turns out that many people do indeed. Debian is the GNU/Linux
|
|
distribution that has the most derivatives based on it -- currently
|
|
128, if Distrowatch.com is to be believed: Ubuntu, Knoppix, gNewSense,
|
|
and many more. And those distributions again have their own
|
|
derivatives. None of these could function without Debian.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Lots of people rely on Debian. That makes it all the more important
|
|
that Debian is so reliable. The Debian project gives us Free Software
|
|
that is both rock-solid and exciting.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
But the greatest thing about Debian is not the fact that it delivers
|
|
great software. Other distributions do that, too.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The big thing about Debian is the *idea* of Debian: The idea that a
|
|
massive Free Software project can be totally independent.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian shows how it's possible to build a highly reliable operating
|
|
system without a formal body. The project has created some pretty
|
|
complex structures to run itself, as a do-ocracy, based on consensus
|
|
and running code.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
This is important. We are currently debating how Free Software
|
|
projects can best be governed in the long run. How do we make sure
|
|
that a project's users can always enjoy the freedom they deserve? How
|
|
can we structure a project in a way that makes it immune to a hostile
|
|
takeover?
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Oracle's acquisition of Sun has shown that these are important
|
|
question. A Free Software license, preferably one like the GPL that
|
|
protects freedom in the long run, is an important first step. But a
|
|
Free Software project consists of much more than code.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
While uncounted people and companies are earning good money with
|
|
Debian, the Debian project itself can't be bought -- simply because
|
|
there is noone you could buy it from. Debian has been doing vendor
|
|
independence long before it was cool.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
What I love most about Debian is that like few other big projects,
|
|
Debian has the idea of freedom at its core.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Debian's Free Software guidelines are a central manifesto for software
|
|
freedom. The Debian Social Contract does not mention a single package
|
|
or program. But it is without a doubt one of Debian's most important
|
|
pieces of documentation.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
In Debian, quality is the focus of everyone's attention. But those who
|
|
work on the Debian system know that great software is worth nothing
|
|
without Freedom.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
With the release of Squeeze, the latest stable version, in February,
|
|
Debian has taken the important step of offering a completely free
|
|
kernel, with no binary blobs. This is a first for a major distribution
|
|
in recent times. Debian is giving its users Freedom by default.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And this Freedom for users and developers on a massive scale truly is
|
|
Debian's outstanding contribution, not just to Free Software, but to
|
|
the information society.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
On behalf of the Free Software Foundation Europe, I would like to
|
|
thank everyone in Debian for their work, and congratulate them on this
|
|
award. It's well deserved. Keep up the good work!
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<i>
|
|
Even with the idea of freedom at its core, some issues
|
|
remain that prevent Debian from being included in the <a
|
|
href="http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html">list of fully free distributions</a>
|
|
maintained by FSF US. These <a
|
|
href="http://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html">issues</a>
|
|
concern the way in which Debian integrates the Contrib and
|
|
Nonfree sections. We are looking forward to seeing these
|
|
issues clarified and resolved to mutual satisfaction.
|
|
</i>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|
|
<!--
|
|
Local Variables: ***
|
|
mode: xml ***
|
|
End: ***
|
|
-->
|