Translations:Essays:Why the FSF does not consider Debian as a free distribution/114/en

The first version of the Social Contract was published on July 4, 1997, by the second Debian Project Leader, Bruce Perens. As part of this contract, a set of rules called the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) was also published. Since then, to become part of Debian, the license under which the software is distributed must meet the DFSG. The Social Contract documented the intention of the Debian developers to build an operating system only from free software, and the DFSG helped classify software into free and non-free. On April 26, 2004, a new version of the document was approved, which replaced the 1997 version.