Subject: NetBSD Trademark Policy (was Re: Alright to Show NetBSD Screenshots
To: Hubert Feyrer <hubertf@NetBSD.org>
From: Art Lemasters <develunix@gmail.com>
List: netbsd-advocacy
Date: 11/09/2007 03:09:20
Hubert Feyrer wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 8 Nov 2007, Art Lemasters wrote:
>>  And for further reference (and unrelated to the question above
>> for now), what are the civil legalities and policy regarding
>> advertising and using NetBSD for developing and selling enhancing
>> software with the system?
> 
> Regarding advertizing: "NetBSD" and its logo are registered trademarks. 
> As long as it's clear that you're not "The NetBSD Project" (or any of 
> its officially affiliated groups), I don't see much of a problem. For 
> the logo use, there's some lose policy of "use it, and if you earn lots 
> of money, share some". Nothing you should feel too pressed about. (If 
> you're interested in using the logo esp. on any products, feel free to 
> contact logo@NetBSD.org so you get this in an official fashion).
> 
> Regarding developing and software based on NetBSD: Just do it. Most of 
> our software is licensed under the BSD license, which permits 
> modification without the need for you to publish any of your 
> modifications. Please check carefully, as this does differ for some 
> portions of the source code (e.g. src/gnu, which is under the GPL). No 
> licensing is needed from your side. But if you make lots of money, 
> you're again welcome to donate back. :)
> 
> If you have further questions, please let me know.

   Thank you! That's well written and easy to understand. The screenshot
and mention will be posted, after the web account is set up. It will be
a couple of days, according to the free web hosting server.

    I've read the opinions and controversies about licenses from developers,
lawyers and others during the past few years. The subject line of this reply
is revised, so that others may find the thread. It seems that most people
who would search for such information are already aware of the issues and
have made up their minds.

   The BSD license and policy are very agreeable for me, and I do hope to
contribute some work during the next couple of thousand more hours of
self-study projects. Regarding licenses, the Fox Toolkit (see the
author's "addendum") and FLTK are enjoyable for learning, as is Eclipse
(CDT version for C++ development being relatively easy to install in the
NetBSD system).

   The "lots of money" part is a long-term goal.  :-)  We (family and I)
have only been cramming knowledge for a little over a year and are just
beginning to work with the Microsoft GUI stuff (the basic income
consideration).

Yours,


Art


Disclaimer for readers: This is a discussion of policy. I am not an
attorney, and to my knowledge, none of the other participants in this
discussion are attorneys. If you need legal advice, seek a properly
licensed attorney.