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diff --git a/share/doc/gdb/Free-Documentation.html b/share/doc/gdb/Free-Documentation.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1448117 --- /dev/null +++ b/share/doc/gdb/Free-Documentation.html @@ -0,0 +1,170 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> +<html> +<!-- Copyright (C) 1988-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. + +Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document +under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or +any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the +Invariant Sections being "Free Software" and "Free Software Needs +Free Documentation", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," +and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. + +(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You are free to copy and modify +this GNU Manual. Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in +developing GNU and promoting software freedom." --> +<!-- Created by GNU Texinfo 5.1, http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/ --> +<head> +<title>Debugging with GDB: Free Documentation</title> + +<meta name="description" content="Debugging with GDB: Free Documentation"> +<meta name="keywords" content="Debugging with GDB: Free Documentation"> +<meta name="resource-type" content="document"> +<meta name="distribution" content="global"> +<meta name="Generator" content="makeinfo"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> +<link href="index.html#Top" rel="start" title="Top"> +<link href="Concept-Index.html#Concept-Index" rel="index" title="Concept Index"> +<link href="index.html#SEC_Contents" rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"> +<link href="Summary.html#Summary" rel="up" title="Summary"> +<link href="Contributors.html#Contributors" rel="next" title="Contributors"> +<link href="Free-Software.html#Free-Software" rel="previous" title="Free Software"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +a.summary-letter {text-decoration: none} +blockquote.smallquotation {font-size: smaller} +div.display {margin-left: 3.2em} +div.example {margin-left: 3.2em} +div.indentedblock {margin-left: 3.2em} +div.lisp {margin-left: 3.2em} +div.smalldisplay {margin-left: 3.2em} +div.smallexample {margin-left: 3.2em} +div.smallindentedblock {margin-left: 3.2em; font-size: smaller} +div.smalllisp {margin-left: 3.2em} +kbd {font-style:oblique} +pre.display {font-family: inherit} +pre.format {font-family: inherit} +pre.menu-comment {font-family: serif} +pre.menu-preformatted {font-family: serif} +pre.smalldisplay {font-family: inherit; font-size: smaller} +pre.smallexample {font-size: smaller} +pre.smallformat {font-family: inherit; font-size: smaller} +pre.smalllisp {font-size: smaller} +span.nocodebreak {white-space:nowrap} +span.nolinebreak {white-space:nowrap} +span.roman {font-family:serif; font-weight:normal} +span.sansserif {font-family:sans-serif; font-weight:normal} +ul.no-bullet {list-style: none} +--> +</style> + + +</head> + +<body lang="en" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#800080" alink="#FF0000"> +<a name="Free-Documentation"></a> +<div class="header"> +<p> +Next: <a href="Contributors.html#Contributors" accesskey="n" rel="next">Contributors</a>, Previous: <a href="Free-Software.html#Free-Software" accesskey="p" rel="previous">Free Software</a>, Up: <a href="Summary.html#Summary" accesskey="u" rel="up">Summary</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Concept-Index.html#Concept-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> +</div> +<hr> +<a name="Free-Software-Needs-Free-Documentation"></a> +<h3 class="unnumberedsec">Free Software Needs Free Documentation</h3> + +<p>The biggest deficiency in the free software community today is not in +the software—it is the lack of good free documentation that we can +include with the free software. Many of our most important +programs do not come with free reference manuals and free introductory +texts. Documentation is an essential part of any software package; +when an important free software package does not come with a free +manual and a free tutorial, that is a major gap. We have many such +gaps today. +</p> +<p>Consider Perl, for instance. The tutorial manuals that people +normally use are non-free. How did this come about? Because the +authors of those manuals published them with restrictive terms—no +copying, no modification, source files not available—which exclude +them from the free software world. +</p> +<p>That wasn’t the first time this sort of thing happened, and it was far +from the last. Many times we have heard a GNU user eagerly describe a +manual that he is writing, his intended contribution to the community, +only to learn that he had ruined everything by signing a publication +contract to make it non-free. +</p> +<p>Free documentation, like free software, is a matter of freedom, not +price. The problem with the non-free manual is not that publishers +charge a price for printed copies—that in itself is fine. (The Free +Software Foundation sells printed copies of manuals, too.) The +problem is the restrictions on the use of the manual. Free manuals +are available in source code form, and give you permission to copy and +modify. Non-free manuals do not allow this. +</p> +<p>The criteria of freedom for a free manual are roughly the same as for +free software. Redistribution (including the normal kinds of +commercial redistribution) must be permitted, so that the manual can +accompany every copy of the program, both on-line and on paper. +</p> +<p>Permission for modification of the technical content is crucial too. +When people modify the software, adding or changing features, if they +are conscientious they will change the manual too—so they can +provide accurate and clear documentation for the modified program. A +manual that leaves you no choice but to write a new manual to document +a changed version of the program is not really available to our +community. +</p> +<p>Some kinds of limits on the way modification is handled are +acceptable. For example, requirements to preserve the original +author’s copyright notice, the distribution terms, or the list of +authors, are ok. It is also no problem to require modified versions +to include notice that they were modified. Even entire sections that +may not be deleted or changed are acceptable, as long as they deal +with nontechnical topics (like this one). These kinds of restrictions +are acceptable because they don’t obstruct the community’s normal use +of the manual. +</p> +<p>However, it must be possible to modify all the <em>technical</em> +content of the manual, and then distribute the result in all the usual +media, through all the usual channels. Otherwise, the restrictions +obstruct the use of the manual, it is not free, and we need another +manual to replace it. +</p> +<p>Please spread the word about this issue. Our community continues to +lose manuals to proprietary publishing. If we spread the word that +free software needs free reference manuals and free tutorials, perhaps +the next person who wants to contribute by writing documentation will +realize, before it is too late, that only free manuals contribute to +the free software community. +</p> +<p>If you are writing documentation, please insist on publishing it under +the GNU Free Documentation License or another free documentation +license. Remember that this decision requires your approval—you +don’t have to let the publisher decide. Some commercial publishers +will use a free license if you insist, but they will not propose the +option; it is up to you to raise the issue and say firmly that this is +what you want. If the publisher you are dealing with refuses, please +try other publishers. If you’re not sure whether a proposed license +is free, write to <a href="mailto:licensing@gnu.org">licensing@gnu.org</a>. +</p> +<p>You can encourage commercial publishers to sell more free, copylefted +manuals and tutorials by buying them, and particularly by buying +copies from the publishers that paid for their writing or for major +improvements. Meanwhile, try to avoid buying non-free documentation +at all. Check the distribution terms of a manual before you buy it, +and insist that whoever seeks your business must respect your freedom. +Check the history of the book, and try to reward the publishers that +have paid or pay the authors to work on it. +</p> +<p>The Free Software Foundation maintains a list of free documentation +published by other publishers, at +<a href="http://www.fsf.org/doc/other-free-books.html">http://www.fsf.org/doc/other-free-books.html</a>. +</p> +<hr> +<div class="header"> +<p> +Next: <a href="Contributors.html#Contributors" accesskey="n" rel="next">Contributors</a>, Previous: <a href="Free-Software.html#Free-Software" accesskey="p" rel="previous">Free Software</a>, Up: <a href="Summary.html#Summary" accesskey="u" rel="up">Summary</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Concept-Index.html#Concept-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> +</div> + + + +</body> +</html> |