On 2020-11-07 18:00:04 +0100, Christoph Berg wrote:
> Hi,
>
> while the above excerpt is only the explanation of the license, and
> not the license itself, I think it is absolutely clear that including
> nmap in anything and selling it as a product is prohibited (even if
> the source is included).
>
> I fail to see how that will not immediately render the whole thing
> non-free. If something similar used to be in the source code before,
> it was already non-free before.
Yes, it is there, even in Debian/stable (buster), e.g. in
scan_engine.cc:
[...]
***********************IMPORTANT NMAP LICENSE TERMS************************
* *
[...]
* Note that the GPL places important restrictions on "derivative works", *
* yet it does not provide a detailed definition of that term. To avoid *
* misunderstandings, we interpret that term as broadly as copyright law *
* allows. For example, we consider an application to constitute a *
* derivative work for the purpose of this license if it does any of the *
* following with any software or content covered by this license *
* ("Covered Software"): *
* *
* o Integrates source code from Covered Software. *
* *
* o Reads or includes copyrighted data files, such as Nmap's nmap-os-db *
* or nmap-service-probes. *
* *
* o Is designed specifically to execute Covered Software and parse the *
* results (as opposed to typical shell or execution-menu apps, which will *
* execute anything you tell them to). *
[...]
* This list is not exclusive, but is meant to clarify our interpretation *
* of derived works with some common examples. Other people may interpret *
* the plain GPL differently, so we consider this a special exception to *
* the GPL that we apply to Covered Software. Works which meet any of *
* these conditions must conform to all of the terms of this license, *
* particularly including the GPL Section 3 requirements of providing *
* source code and allowing free redistribution of the work as a whole. *
[...]
Note that this is described as "NMAP LICENSE TERMS", so that this is
part of the license, IMHO.
This would make the installation of nmap illegal, because arbitrary
software could break the license terms ("Reads copyrighted data files"),
even not on purpose.
--
Vincent Lefèvre <vinc...@vinc17.net> - Web: <https://www.vinc17.net/>
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Work: CR INRIA - computer arithmetic / AriC project (LIP, ENS-Lyon)
