[Python-Dev] PEP 481 - Migrate Some Supporting Repositories to Git and Github

[Chris Angelico]

On Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 8:54 PM, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 30 November 2014 at 15:23, Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Python is already using quite a bit of non-free software in its
>> ecosystem. The Windows builds of CPython are made with Microsoft's
>> compiler, and the recent discussion about shifting to Cygwin or MinGW
>> basically boiled down to "but it ought to be free software", and that
>> was considered not a sufficiently strong argument. In each case, the
>> decision has impact on other people (using MSVC for the official
>> python.org installers means extension writers need to use MSVC too;
>> and using GitHub means that contributors are strongly encouraged,
>> possibly required, to use GitHub); so why is it acceptable to use a
>> non-free compiler, but not acceptable to use a non-free host?
>
> Relying on non-free software to support users of a non-free platform
> is rather different from *requiring* the use of non-free software to
> participate in core Python community design processes.

But what non-free software is required to use the community design
processes? The GitHub client is entirely optional; I don't use it, I
just use git itself. Using a free client to access a proprietary
server isn't the same as using non-free software.

ChrisA