Re: Selling Artistic License Software (WAS: Re: non-DFSG section and CD distributers)
Dale Scheetz wrote:
[About the Artistic License]
> You have to ask yourself, "If all software were licensed under these terms
> would it be free?". My answer would be no, because there would be no
> "software that can be sold" to "aggregate" with.
>
> This license specifically says, "you can not sell this software". It
> provides loopholes, like aggregation, copying fees and support, as avenues
> for making money, but I view them as slightly dishonest. The "can not
> sell" clause is a distribution restriction, and for me, makes the package
> less free.
Hm... I find it quite hard to make sense of item 5 of the Artistic
License, but I don't think the conclusion you draw in the first
paragraph is correct.
-- Artistic License:
| 5. You may charge a reasonable copying fee for any distribution of this
| Package. You may charge any fee you choose for support of this
| Package. You may not charge a fee for this Package itself. However,
| you may distribute this Package in aggregate with other (possibly
| commercial) programs as part of a larger (possibly commercial) software
| distribution provided that you do not advertise this Package as a
| product of your own.
--
The last sentence says nothing about the licenses of the other
programs, except to explicitly allow commercial programs. It seems to
me that it is perfectly valid if the programs it is aggregated with
are also under the Artistic License. The only requirement is that
"you do not advertise this Package as a product of your own".
I still don't know what "You may not charge a fee for this Package
itself" means, though. What is the difference between charging
a fee for the Package and charging a fee for its distribution?
Richard Braakman
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