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Re: CVS commit: pkgsrc/licenses



"OBATA Akio" <obache%netbsd.org@localhost> writes:

> On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:34:33 +0900, Greg Troxel <gdt%ir.bbn.com@localhost> 
> wrote:
>
>> "OBATA Akio" <obache%netbsd.org@localhost> writes:
>
>>>  * ruby-license itself is like a artistic license
>>
>> Interesting - I was not able to figure that out from reading it.
>
> Matz said, "ruby's license came from perl's artistic license with some 
> modification".
> And it seems that he want to apply more relaxed license than GPL to ruby. 
> (Why now GPL? because early ruby version contains GPLed regex library).

OK - then maybe it can be submitted to OSI/FSF for evaluation/approval.
A view that a project that wants to be free software should choose an
approved license or get theirs approved is perhaps a bit harsh, but is
increasingly what I'm thinking as we go through this.

>> I can see the point that people might want to avoid GPL for things they
>> are redistributing, perhaps building into a product.  The license
>> framework is not intended to enable such people to set a few variables
>> and have their product be clean - it's just to avoid accidentally
>> building software with objectionable licenses.
>
> Hmm...I felt that new license framework is for such people...

Anyone shipping a product would be crazy to rely solely on the license
framework.  It would be a helpful tool to keep the development team in
check (by forcing the setting of a product-compatible ACCEPTABLE_LICENSE
value) pending the real, formal evaluation.  With products the real
question is what code one makes proprietary modifications to - it's not
an actual problem to ship sources for unmodified or
willing-to-share-modified.  So a straight ACCEPTABLE_LICENSE test
doesn't really solve the problem.  I think it's a useful mechanism, but
that it's mostly useful in less critical situations.

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