[Replicant] Replicant Digest, Vol 193, Issue 4

[J]

On Sun, 23 Oct 2016 21:16:49 -0400
David Heath <dheath.pr at gmail.com> wrote:

Yes, yes, here, here, I agree we could have a version labelled
GITMHILIR


> Hello. For what it's worth, I think non-free should be available to
> encourage adoption of Replicant. Would it be acceptable for
> Replicant's F-droid to simply hide all non-free by default or clearly
> present a non-free warning for those apps? This seems quite simple if
> F-droid's repo allows for categorical tagging, but if that is not
> possible, perhaps segregating the repos is necessary. I understand
> that it may be desirable to not ship any non-free repo, in which case
> the latter might be necessary, but adding the non-free repo should at
> least be convenient for new users who want the same Android apps they
> have become used to. Personally, I believe just using Replicant is a
> good step in the right direction. Clear warnings and categorical
> stratification seem ideal to me.
> 
> On 23 Oct 2016 8:00 am, <replicant-request at lists.osuosl.org> wrote:
> 
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> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >    1. Re: fdroid on replicant: dfsg changes (Josh Branning)
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2016 19:54:21 +0100
> > From: Josh Branning <lovell.joshyyy at gmail.com>
> > To: replicant at lists.osuosl.org
> > Subject: Re: [Replicant] fdroid on replicant: dfsg changes
> > Message-ID: <580BB5DD.2050502 at gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
> >
> > On 22/10/16 02:53, Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli wrote:
> > > On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 07:59:10 +0200
> > > Simon Josefsson <simon at josefsson.org> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Den Mon, 22 Aug 2016 20:15:19 +0200
> > >> skrev Re: fdroid on replicant: dfsg changes:
> > > [...]
> > >>>>> The idea is to:
> > >>>>> - make F-droid detect Replicant
> > >>>>> - Add a way to totally hide applications.
> > >>>>> - Make f-droid hide all applications with anti-features, if
> > >>>>> running on Replicant.
> > > [...]
> > >>>> This could be too heavy handed.  For me, this would make it
> > >>>> impossible to install Face Slim, OsmAnd, Telegram.  Of these
> > >>>> three, only the OsmAnd appear to actually have a licensing
> > >>>> issue.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> However, I could live with the solution above if it means
> > >>>> having Replicant a FSF endorsed free distro.
> > >
> > > Another solution would be to:
> > > 1) Detect Replicant in f-droid
> > > 2) Add the ability, with the fdroid-data, to produce a repository
> > > that is fully fsdg-compliant. It would take the stock fdroid-data
> > > in input.
> > > 3) host that fsdg-compliant repository
> > > 4) make f-droid switch to the fsdg-compliant repository, somehow,
> > > when it is run within Replicant.
> > >
> > > That way a user could still, willingly, switch repository, while
> > > keeping Replicant fsdg-compliant at the same time.
> > >
> > > Another option would be to:
> > > 1) Add compilation switches in f-droid, such as --enforce-fsdg or
> > >     --enforce-no-anti-features that would hide all the non-fsdg
> > > (or all applications with anti-features)
> > > 2) When building f-droid in Replicant, it would be built with that
> > >     compilation option.
> > >
> > > The advantages and disadvantages of that last approach are:
> > > - F-droid wound't be reproducible between Replicant and the
> > > official version.
> > > - A user could uninstall Replicant's f-droid and install the
> > > official one instead to get software not shown with the version
> > >    shipped in Replicant.
> > > - I've no idea if compilation switches are fsdg-compliant or not.
> > >    For me it looks like a source version of debian non-free
> > > repository. Coreboot for instance already has such setting, when
> > > doing make menuconfig, there is the "[ ] Allow use of binary-only
> > > repository" option[1].
> > >
> > >> I see that Replicant is mentioned there now, but this sounds
> > >> strange to me given the concern with fdroid.
> > > I think f-droid was fsdg-compliant at the time where Replicant
> > > was added to the list of FSDG distributions.
> > >
> > > Privileged extension:
> > > ---------------------
> > > I tested the privileged extension on Replicant 4.2, it now works
> > > great, and I can now update all the applications way faster. I
> > > can even install them faster.
> > >
> > >>> There are large security and usability advantages to including
> > > What are the security advantages?
> > > As I understand f-droid doesn't require root permissions.
> > >
> > > References:
> > > -----------
> > > [1] I mentioned it because having real world example can help,
> > >      especially if we need to ask around to see if it is
> > > compliant.
> > >
> > > Denis.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Replicant mailing list
> > > Replicant at lists.osuosl.org
> > > http://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/replicant
> > >
> >
> > I think hiding all applications with anti-features could be a bit
> > heavy handed too.
> >
> > Some things like upstream non-free, adds, non-free network services
> > and possibly tracking are not good things, but the user may feel
> > that they still want to install the app, and the app may not
> > directly conflict with the fsf guidelines.
> >
> > Other things like non-free dependencies and non-free assets should
> > be avoided completely.
> >
> > I think it may be wise to have a discussion about which of the
> > following /have/ to be removed to comply, and make sure we're not
> > just removing things because they are not preferable.
> >
> > https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/Antifeatures
> >
> > For the software that doesn't comply, hopefully there is a way to
> > remove those features from the sources.
> >
> > Josh
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Subject: Digest Footer
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> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > End of Replicant Digest, Vol 193, Issue 4
> > *****************************************
> >