Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking

all Debian developers are knowledgeable about, interested in, and dedicated to its basic principles. Open-ended questions frequently turn into longer email conversationsbetween application managers and prospective developers in which the subtleties about licensing along with free software philosophy are dissected. While I have heard some developers complain of the “wait” and “bureaucracy” introduced by the NMP, or even the absurdity of some of the technical questions, I have never heard an objection levied against this part of the application. In fact, most developers recall the philosophy section as enjoyable and rewarding.
    In particular, the initial biography allows developers to take an inventory of their technical past, in a way that starts to imbue it with a decidedly ethical dimension. It is worth quoting large blocks of an application here to offer a sense of the remarkable detail and nuance of these writings. Below I quote a short section from a developer answering the biographical question:
    This is my story about free software: In the first times I was excited by the idea of something to which everybody could contribute, just like that Internet that I was discovering at the same time. I could also see that it had a future, because of that part that said that all the contributions would remain free. Wow! At the same time, I was seeing many closed softwares rise and fall (DOS, Windows 3.x, OS/2, compiler environments, BBS software, Office suites, hardware drivers, proprietary format backup suites, whatever), and everytime they got superseded by some other thing, support fell, bugs remained unfixed, data became unreadable and nobody could do anything about it except spending lots of time and resources relearning everything and porting or even restarting their works from scratch. [ … ]
    I realized that Free Software was and is the only thing that potentially allows you to be free of the risks that (usually silly) external events pose on your know-how and on the software that you depend on. [ … ]
    This is about me and my time for Debian:
    Between five and six years have passed running Debian, and my experience with it has grown. I got used to the Debian phylosophy [
sic
], did some experience with the BTS [bug-tracking system], read some mailing lists, the DWN, got curious and somewhat knowledgeable on how Debian works, read pages, policies, discussions, I even went to the LSM and Debian One. [ … ]
    The packages that I used to create, however, were not perfect, and I would have needed to better study the various Debian policies and manuals to do some better job. Willing to do that, I thought it was silly not to become an official maintainer, and start contributing to the project myself, so that others could take advantage of that knowledge I was about to acquire.
    The first section usually sticks to a standard technical life history, gesturing toward the ethical uniqueness of F/OSS, yet it is told in a mode hinged to practical life experiences with technology. Often told in a confessional tone, such essays are as much a biography about not only one’s own discoveryof this specific project but also how one arrived at the principles upheld in Debian itself.
    The philosophy aspect of the philosophy and procedures section also covers the Social Contract and DFSG, and it is here where the ethical voicing becomes strikingly pronounced. In contrast to the descriptive register of the biographical section, here prospective developers are required to formulate their personal views on free software, moving from personal experiences toward reflective generalizations regarding the legal and ethical principles they are committing to in joining this project. Let me first share the text before commenting on its implications. Below is an excerpt from a different application than the one quoted above. This applicant, responding to the question “Please explain the key points of the Social Contract and the DFSG—in your own words,” remarks:
    The Social Contract is the commitment the Debian project makes to its members and users. It is about fostering a community so committed to software freedom, so open, and so supportive that no one would have need to go elsewhere. Debian’s members and users benefit from the fact that Debian is completely free software and that nothing in the Debian process is hidden from them.
    Debian also provides an outlet for new free software and a “channel” for contributing changes