How non-free software is not in Debian

Posted May 27, 2006 9:09 UTC (Sat) by ajk (guest, #6607)
In reply to: How non-free software is not in Debian by paulmfoster
Parent article: How Sun's Java got into Debian

That non-free is done by Debian developers and hosted on Debian servers but still "is not part of Debian" is nothing new. It is decade-old diplomatic fiction, a compromise between the faction that wanted Debian to be all free, and the faction that wanted Debian to ship useful software even if it was non-free. This compromise allowed both parties to save face. Nowadays it is an inseparable part of the Debian ethos, a fact of life.

Back then it was mostly about Netscape Navigator, as far as I know. Now it is about Java.