   Version 1.1 ratified on April 26th, 2004.

   Superseded by the current version 1.2 ratified on October 1st, 2022.

   Supersedes Version 1.0 ratified on July 5th, 1997.

   Debian, the producers of the Debian system, have created the Debian
   Social Contract. The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) part of the
   contract, initially designed as a set of commitments that we agree to
   abide by, has been adopted by the free software community as the basis
   of the Open Source Definition.
     __________________________________________________________________

"Social Contract" with the Free Software Community

    1. Debian will remain 100% free
       We provide the guidelines that we use to determine if a work is
       "free" in the document entitled "The Debian Free Software
       Guidelines". We promise that the Debian system and all its
       components will be free according to these guidelines. We will
       support people who create or use both free and non-free works on
       Debian. We will never make the system require the use of a non-free
       component.
    2. We will give back to the free software community
       When we write new components of the Debian system, we will license
       them in a manner consistent with the Debian Free Software
       Guidelines. We will make the best system we can, so that free works
       will be widely distributed and used. We will communicate things
       such as bug fixes, improvements and user requests to the "upstream"
       authors of works included in our system.
    3. We will not hide problems
       We will keep our entire bug report database open for public view at
       all times. Reports that people file online will promptly become
       visible to others.
    4. Our priorities are our users and free software
       We will be guided by the needs of our users and the free software
       community. We will place their interests first in our priorities.
       We will support the needs of our users for operation in many
       different kinds of computing environments. We will not object to
       non-free works that are intended to be used on Debian systems, or
       attempt to charge a fee to people who create or use such works. We
       will allow others to create distributions containing both the
       Debian system and other works, without any fee from us. In
       furtherance of these goals, we will provide an integrated system of
       high-quality materials with no legal restrictions that would
       prevent such uses of the system.
    5. Works that do not meet our free software standards
       We acknowledge that some of our users require the use of works that
       do not conform to the Debian Free Software Guidelines. We have
       created "contrib" and "non-free" areas in our archive for these
       works. The packages in these areas are not part of the Debian
       system, although they have been configured for use with Debian. We
       encourage CD manufacturers to read the licenses of the packages in
       these areas and determine if they can distribute the packages on
       their CDs. Thus, although non-free works are not a part of Debian,
       we support their use and provide infrastructure for non-free
       packages (such as our bug tracking system and mailing lists).
     __________________________________________________________________

The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)

    1. 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.
    2. Source Code
       The program must include source code, and must allow distribution
       in source code as well as compiled form.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.)
    5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
       The license must not discriminate against any person or group of
       persons.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. License Must Not Be Specific to Debian
       The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's
       being part of a Debian system. If the program is extracted from
       Debian and used or distributed without Debian but otherwise within
       the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program
       is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are
       granted in conjunction with the Debian system.
    9. 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.
   10. Example Licenses
       The "GPL", "BSD", and "Artistic" licenses are examples of licenses
       that we consider "free".

   The concept of stating our "social contract with the free software
   community" was suggested by Ean Schuessler. This document was drafted
   by Bruce Perens, refined by the other Debian developers during a
   month-long e-mail conference in June 1997, and then accepted as the
   publicly stated policy of the Debian Project.

   Bruce Perens later removed the Debian-specific references from the
   Debian Free Software Guidelines to create "The Open Source Definition".

   Other organizations may derive from and build on this document. Please
   give credit to the Debian project if you do.
