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-Please note that this document is provided in order to document
-Debian's history. While the general ideas still apply some details
-changed.
-
-
-********************
-Appendix
-The Debian Manifesto
-********************
-
-
- The Debian Linux Manifesto
-
- Written by Ian A. Murdock
- Revised 01/06/94
-
-
-What is Debian Linux?
-=====================
-
-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. The primary purpose
-of the Debian project is to finally create a distribution that lives up
-to the Linux name. Debian is being carefully and conscientiously put
-together and will be maintained and supported with similar care.
-
-It is also an attempt to create a non-commercial distribution that will
-be able to effectively compete in the commercial market. It will
-eventually be distributed by The Free Software Foundation on CD-ROM,
-and The Debian Linux Association will offer the distribution on floppy
-disk and tape along with printed manuals, technical support and other
-end-user essentials. All of the above will be available at little more
-than cost, and the excess will be put toward further development of
-free software for all users. Such distribution is essential to the
-success of the Linux operating system in the commercial market, and it
-must be done by organizations in a position to successfully advance and
-advocate free software without the pressure of profits or returns.
-
-
-Why is Debian being constructed?
-================================
-
-Distributions are essential to the future of Linux. Essentially, they
-eliminate the need for the user to locate, download, compile, install
-and integrate a fairly large number of essential tools to assemble a
-working Linux system. Instead, the burden of system construction is
-placed on the distribution creator, whose work can be shared with
-thousands of other users. Almost all users of Linux will get their
-first taste of it through a distribution, and most users will continue
-to use a distribution for the sake of convenience even after they are
-familiar with the operating system. Thus, distributions play a very
-important role indeed.
-
-Despite their obvious importance, distributions have attracted little
-attention from developers. There is a simple reason for this: they are
-neither easy nor glamorous to construct and require a great deal of
-ongoing effort from the creator to keep the distribution bug-free and
-up-to-date. It is one thing to put together a system from scratch; it
-is quite another to ensure that the system is easy for others to
-install, is installable and usable under a wide variety of hardware
-configurations, contains software that others will find useful, and is
-updated when the components themselves are improved.
-
-Many distributions have started out as fairly good systems, but as time
-passes attention to maintaining the distribution becomes a secondary
-concern. A case-in-point is the Softlanding Linux System (better known
-as SLS). It is quite possibly the most bug-ridden and badly maintained
-Linux distribution available; unfortunately, it is also quite possibly
-the most popular. It is, without question, the distribution that
-attracts the most attention from the many commercial "distributors" of
-Linux that have surfaced to capitalize on the growing popularity of the
-operating system.
-
-This is a bad combination indeed, as most people who obtain Linux from
-these "distributors" receive a bug-ridden and badly maintained Linux
-distribution. As if this wasn't bad enough, these "distributors" have
-a disturbing tendency to misleadingly advertise non-functional or
-extremely unstable "features" of their product. Combine this with the
-fact that the buyers will, of course, expect the product to live up to
-its advertisement and the fact that many may believe it to be a
-commercial operating system (there is also a tendency not to mention
-that Linux is free nor that it is distributed under the GNU General
-Public License). To top it all off, these "distributors" are actually
-making enough money from their effort to justify buying larger
-advertisements in more magazines; it is the classic example of
-unacceptable behavior being rewarded by those who simply do not know
-any better. Clearly something needs to be done to remedy the
-situation.
-
-
-How will Debian attempt to put an end to these problems?
-========================================================
-
-The Debian design process is open to ensure that the system is of the
-highest quality and that it reflects the needs of the user community.
-By involving others with a wide range of abilities and backgrounds,
-Debian is able to be developed in a modular fashion. Its components
-are of high quality because those with expertise in a certain area are
-given the opportunity to construct or maintain the individual
-components of Debian involving that area. Involving others also
-ensures that valuable suggestions for improvement can be incorporated
-into the distribution during its development; thus, a distribution is
-created based on the needs and wants of the users rather than the needs
-and wants of the constructor. It is very difficult for one individual
-or small group to anticipate these needs and wants in advance without
-direct input from others.
-
-Debian Linux will also be distributed on physical media by the Free
-Software Foundation and the Debian Linux Association. This provides
-Debian to users without access to the Internet or FTP and additionally
-makes products and services such as printed manuals and technical
-support available to all users of the system. In this way, Debian may
-be used by many more individuals and organizations than is otherwise
-possible, the focus will be on providing a first-class product and not
-on profits or returns, and the margin from the products and services
-provided may be used to improve the software itself for all users
-whether they paid to obtain it or not.
-
-The Free Software Foundation plays an extremely important role in the
-future of Debian. By the simple fact that they will be distributing
-it, a message is sent to the world that Linux is not a commercial
-product and that it never should be, but that this does not mean that
-Linux will never be able to compete commercially. For those of you who
-disagree, I challenge you to rationalize the success of GNU Emacs and
-GCC, which are not commercial software but which have had quite an
-impact on the commercial market regardless of that fact.
-
-The time has come to concentrate on the future of Linux rather than on
-the destructive goal of enriching oneself at the expense of the entire
-Linux community and its future. The development and distribution of
-Debian may not be the answer to the problems that I have outlined in
-the Manifesto, but I hope that it will at least attract enough
-attention to these problems to allow them to be solved.