在项目发起的几年之后,Debian 确定了需要遵循自由软件项目形式的原则。这个慎重而积极的决定使得项目有序而稳定的成长并且确保了所有的成员向同一个方向前进。要成为一个 Debian 的开发者,任何的候选人必须承诺并且证明他们能够支持并且坚守建立在项目的基础文档上的原则。
开发程序被不断的争论,然而这些基础文档被广泛的接受,因此很少更改。Debian 的组织架构也为这些稳定性提供了额外的保证:任何修订案都需要获得四分之三的有效多数的同意才能获得通过。
这个参考文档定义了哪些软件是“足够自由”而可以包含于 Debian 中。如果某个程序的许可证与这些原则相符合,它便能被收录在 main 部分中;如果有所冲突,但是至少允许自由分发的话,它可能被收录于 non-free 部分。正式地来说,non-free 不是 Debian 的组成部分;它属于向用户提供的额外服务。
More than a selection criteria for Debian, this text has become an authority on the subject of free software, and has served as the basis for the “Open Source Definition”. Historically, it is therefore one of the first formal definitions of the concept of “free software”.
The GNU General Public License, the BSD License, and the Artistic License are examples of traditional free licenses that follow the 9 points mentioned in this text. Below you will find the text as it is published on the Debian website.
Free redistribution.
The license of a Debian component may not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license may not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
Source code.
The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form.
Derived works.
The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
Integrity of the author's source code.
The license may restrict source code from being distributed in modified form
only if the license allows the distribution of “patch files” with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software (
This is a compromise. The Debian group encourages all authors not to restrict any files, source or binary, from being modified).
No discrimination against persons or groups.
The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.
No discrimination against fields of endeavor.
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.
Distribution of license.
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
License must not be specific to Debian.
属于程序的权利,不应取决于该程序是否是 Debian 的一部分。如果某个程序是从 Debian 中提取出的,而又没有基于 Debian 进行分发或者应用于 Debian,但是根据该程序许可协议的条款,所有程序的使用者,包括程序被再分发之后的使用者,依然都享有该程序在 Debian 系统中相同的权利。
License must not contaminate other software.
The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be free software.