[FAQ maintainer cc'd] I suggest adding the following paragraphs to http://people.debian.org/~bap/dfsg-faq please, because I'm getting bored of re-finding them. All three existed before I started posting to debian-legal in May 2003, so please let me know if I've mis-summarised any of them.
This test first appeared in a discussion of vim in 2002 as a test of DFSGs 1, 2 and 3 in receive-only development environments, probably based on the joke about old hackers retiring to desert islands to escape flamewars which has been posted to debian lists sometimes.
This test originated in a discussion of mixmaster in 2002 as a rationale for not accepting forced submission or identification. It seems grounded in the DFSGs "1. Free redistribution" and "5. No discrimination against persons or groups" and built on an earlier discussion of mixmaster.
This test was first posted to this FAQ as a test of forced-upgrade and termination clauses which can break DFSG 1. It was first mentioned on debian mailing lists in 2003 and discussed again in relation to the GNU FDL.
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:46:35 +0100 MJR