[PureOS] Fedora removes MongoDB due to Server Side License issues

[Jeremiah C. Foster]

Hi,

Nicole shared with me this URL 
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel@lists.fedoraproject.org/thread/IQIOBOGWJ247JGKX2WD6N27TZNZZNM6C/
from the Fedora mailing lists.

TL;DR; is that the new MongoDB license is not considered "free" by
Fedora and the question is if we ought to consider it non-free as well.

I feel that Fedora's conclusion is not necessarily unreasonable. I do
wonder what the impact might be but I suppose it might not be that
large given the installed base of PureOS. It may affect Debian more if
they decide they want to remove MongoDB.

I do think there is another question though; how do we decide what
stays in and what is kept out of PureOS? I feel we ought to curate our
selection of packages from Debian given our limited resources for
maintenance and since we're relying on Debian to do the type of license
checking and curation that Fedora is doing. While I think that is
reasonable given Debian's Free Software Guidelines it may not be
appropriate. For example, what if Purism's Liberty services wants to
use PureOS and they need MongoDB and have no problem with the license?
Relying on Debian will not always meet our needs. This points the need
for PureOS to be curated with regard to;

- Licenses
- Security
- Fitness for purpose

I think we'll need to try and come up with policies for each scope
above, even if they end up being "we do what Debian does" or "we rely
on Debian."

The URL Nicole shared seems to be a good example of where PureOS policy
might differ from our upstream. What is the view of folks here? Should
we keep on including MongoDB or should we stop? 

Regards,

Jeremiah