Re: Agenda for board meeting on November 3rd

[Richard Stallman <rms gnu org>]

  > > I suspect that uploading to the app store also requires nonfree software,
  > > but I don't know for certain.

  > To the best of my knowledge it does not, though some effort is required
  > to avoid it.  (See some of the recent discussion about the Android SDK
  > and its EULA, for instance.)  It's possible that it requires proprietary
  > JavaScript; I have not personally tested that.

Proprietary Javascript is what I suspect Google requires.

However, this is a secondary issue -- the primary one is that the user
must run nonfree software to install the app from there.  Leading
others to run nonfree software is more grave than using nonfree
software yourself.

  > While I do think we should recommend fdroid.org as preferable and only
  > link to it (such as in links from the GNOME application and its
  > documentation), and avoid linking to a version in the Play store (e.g.
  > "To use the Foo feature, install the Foo application for Android,
  > available via https://f-droid.org/...";), that doesn't preclude making
  > the application available via the Google Play store for users who
  > already have that installed.

That's true.  The program's developers, or others, can put it in the
Google store if they wish.

My point is that the GNOME Foundation should not do so.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org)
Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html.