Re: license question
Brian Ristuccia wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 04, 1999 at 03:48:51PM -0700, Joey Hess wrote:
> > What do people think of the following licence? I think there are tons of
> > problems, and I'd like a laundry-list of them to bring to the author's
> > attention.
> >
>
> There's a few issues with this license that I can see at first glance:
>
> 1. Incorporating laws by copy or by reference is unneccessary and annoying.
But does it violate the DFSG?
I suppose it may discriminate from Fields of Endeavor such as breaking the
law, which may violate DFSG point #6.
> 5. The documentation is completely and totally non-free
Nod. Do you think removing the documentation from the package constitutes
modifying it, and would violate the license?
> 6. A potential loophole: A number of programmers could each take 1,000 line
> sections of the source code and incorporate them into several other dummy
> programs. Each of the dummy programs would be licensed under the GPL or
> the Artistic License as described in item 6. Then another programmer
> could combine the analog code from the dummy programs into a GPL'd or
> Artistic Licensed Analog.
>
> >
> > Analog is copyright (C) Stephen R. E. Turner 1995 - 1999.
> > This copyright applies to all source code, compiled code, documentation, and
> > graphics, except those parts written by other people (which are normally
> > copyright their authors).
> >
> > This licence describes the conditions under which you may use, modify and
> > distribute version 3.32 of analog ("the program"). Except where stated,
> > the conditions of this licence apply equally to the source code for the
> > program, as well as to any compiled version. The form interface program is
> > part of the program for the purposes of this licence. If you are unable or
> > unwilling to accept these conditions in full, then, notwithstanding the
> > conditions in the remainder of this licence, you may not use, modify or
> > distribute the program at all. Text in square brackets is intended for
> > guidance only and does not form part of the licence in any way.
> > [Analog is free software. This licence is designed not to restrict your
> > freedom except insofar as is necessary to ensure that the program remains free
> > for all. If you want to do something that is against this licence, but within
> > the spirit of free software, then let's talk about it.]
> >
> > 1) Any use of analog which is illegal under international or local law is
> > forbidden by this licence. Any such action is the sole responsibility of
> > the person committing the action.
> > [Some jurisdictions regulate the collection and processing of data relating
> > to individuals, for example.]
> >
> > 2) The program may be used free of charge by any person or organisation to
> > whom it is made available, provided that that person accepts the conditions
> > of this licence.
> >
> > 3) The program may be copied and distributed by any person or organisation in
> > any way whatsoever, provided that any distribution is accompanied by a copy
> > of all the documentation pertaining to the program. You may not charge
> > for the program itself, only for reasonable costs of distributing the
> > program, and you must not do anything to suggest to the person to whom it is
> > distributed that analog is anything other than free software. Furthermore,
> > you may not charge for distributing a modified version of the program
> > unless the source code for the modified version, or a list of differences
> > between the modified version and the original version, is publicly and
> > freely available in machine readable form.
> > [If you distribute analog with a book or something like that, I'd be
> > pleased to receive a copy].
> >
> > 4) You may make a reasonable charge for either of the following services,
> > provided in each case that the third party is first made aware that analog
> > is free software and that the charge is therefore for your labour,
> > expertise and costs.
> > i) Installing the program on a computer on behalf of a third party;
> > ii) Running the program and providing output from it to a third party.
> > You may not charge for these services in connection with a modified version
> > of the program unless the source code for the modified version, or a list
> > of differences between the modified version and the original version, is
> > publicly and freely available in machine readable form.
> >
> > 5) You may modify the program in any way you wish provided that all of the
> > following conditions are met.
> > i) Any modification in the source code is clearly marked as such;
> > ii) No modification is made to my documentation;
> > [Any documentation needed on your changes must therefore be made in a
> > separate file].
> > iii) The VNUMBER string is changed to "3.32(modified)";
> > [This string can be found near the top of analhea2.h].
> > iv) You ensure that the HTML2.0 logo is never produced except when the
> > output is HTML2.0 conformant;
> > [This logo is produced in the function pagebot() in output2.c.
> > An HTML validator can be found at http://validator.w3.org/]
> > v) Any HTML output includes a link to the analog home page.
> > vi) All of the conditions of this licence, and no other conditions, apply to
> > your modified version.
> > You may claim copyright for the parts of the program you have written.
> > Changing the default options in the file analhead.h does not count as
> > modifying the program.
> > [You are encouraged to submit your changes to me for inclusion in subsequent
> > versions of analog].
> >
> > 6) You may use up to 1000 lines of my source code, modified or unmodified,
> > in your own program provided that both of the following conditions are met.
> > i) Authorship of my code is attributed to me, both in the source code for
> > your program, and in the documentation for your program if there is any;
> > ii) Your program must be used, modified and distributed as if it were a
> > modified version of analog under this licence, or as if it had been
> > distributed under the terms of version 2 or later of the Gnu General
> > Public Licence, or the Perl Artistic Licence, at your option.
> > [See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html and
> > http://language.perl.com/misc/Artistic.html respectively].
> >
> > 7) No warranty of any sort, expressed or implied, is provided in connection
> > with the program, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of
> > merchantibility or fitness for a particular purpose. Any cost, loss or
> > damage of any sort incurred owing to the malfunction or misuse of the
> > program or the inaccuracy of the documentation or connected with the program
> > in any other way whatsoever is the responsibility of the person who incurred
> > the cost, loss or damage. By using this program you give up any right to
> > seek any damages against me in connection with this program.
> >
> > 8) I, Stephen Turner, reserve the right to make exceptions to any of these
> > conditions, or alter these conditions, at any time. However, you may always
> > use these conditions instead of any altered version if you prefer.
> > [Note that this licence explicitly applies only to one version of
> > analog. Therefore, if I make new conditions in connection with a future
> > version, you do not then have the right to apply these conditions to that
> > version instead].
> >
> > Stephen R. E. Turner
> > Statistical Laboratory
> > 16 Mill Lane
> > Cambridge
> > England
> > sret1@cam.ac.uk
> > http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~sret1/
> > 2nd September 1999
> >
>
> --
> Brian Ristuccia
> brianr@osiris.978.org
> bristucc@nortelnetworks.com
> bristucc@cs.uml.edu
--
see shy jo
Reply to: