.TH CHECK-DFSG-STATUS 1 "A Cute Little Hack" \" -*- nroff -*-
.SH NAME
check-dfsg-status \- report of installed non-free software
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B check-dfsg-status
[\fIOPTION\fR] ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
This program began as an attempt to create a "virtual Richard M. Stallman" for
Debian GNU/Linux.  Thus the choice of name.
.PP
This program analyzes the currently-installed package list on a Debian 
GNU/Linux system, and reports the non-free and contrib packages that are 
currently installed to stdout.
In some cases, such as regarding documentation licensed under the GNU Free
Documentation License with invariant sections, the opinions of Richard M. 
Stallman and the Debian project have diverged since this program was 
originally written.  In such cases, this program follows the definition of
freedom embodied in the Debian Free Software Guidelines.
.PP
The packages in the non-free tree have restrictions
on their use and/or distribution which cause them to fail to meet the terms
of the Debian Free Software Guidelines included as part of the Debian Social
Contract.  However, some are sufficiently useful that their presence is often
tolerated by Debian users despite their licensing.
.PP
The packages in the contrib tree are themselves free software but have some
dependency on non-free software for their use that make them worthy of 
reporting so that their use can also be consciously considered.
.PP
Richard is the most vocal among us on the issue of software morality, and we
agree with Richard that Debian users should have an easy way to know when they
are running non-free software on their systems.  This program is our attempt
to fill that need.
.SH OPTIONS
All options can be prefixed with \-\- (eg: \fB\-\-noexplain\fR) to turn them off.
.TP
\fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR
Do nothing if there are no non-free packages installed.
.TP
\fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-explain\fR
Give a brief explanation of why each package is non-free, if
available. This is the default.
.TP
\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-sparse\fR
Just output a list of non-free packages.
.TP
\fB\-\-reason\-dir\fR=\fIDIR\fR
Use \fIDIR\fR as the reason directory, instead of
/usr/share/check-dfsg-status/reasons/.
.TP
\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
Display help.
.TP
\fB\-d\fR, \fB\-\-debug\fR
Generate debugging information.
.SH FILES
.TP
.I /usr/share/check-dfsg-status/reasons
Default source of explanations for why packages are non-free.
.SH HISTORY
This program was written by Bdale Garbee and Bill Geddes for the Debian 
GNU/Linux system, in response to an open discussion with Richard Stallman
about the issues surrounding the availability/desirability of the 'non-free' 
package tree in Debian. It was originally named 'vrms' but for the reasons
outlined in #962696 it was renamed to 'check-dfsg-status'.