On Wed, 30 May 2001, Kenneth E. Lussier wrote:
> Theo, was, as he always is, diplomatic and subtle in his comments ;-)
> http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/sbin/ipf/Attic/ipf.c
Actually, I thought those comments were remarkably restrained, given the
source. Theo is, shall we say, not known for tact. :-)
On Wed, 30 May 2001, Tony Lambiris wrote:
> Id rather not start a thread about this.
Too late, someone already did. ;-)
> In short, Darren's license conflicted with OpenBSD's license, so they took
> it out of the core OS. This doesnt mean you cant download and compile the
> IPF package if you are so inclined to. Its really not a big deal.
I think it is a big deal, because, as Theo says, this impacts a lot of
companies who have been using OpenBSD to build their own solutions. This
suddenly puts the licensing status of their work in doubt. One of the major
advantages (depending on your POV) of OpenBSD is the right to do whatever you
want with it. I'm not an OpenBSD user myself, but if I were, I'd be fairly
pissed about this. As it is, it tweaks my sense of justice.
On Wed, 30 May 2001, Ken Ambrose wrote:
> Yes, you write the software, you get to define the license. BUT, he went
> and let them use his software for ages with the license in its original
> form, and only after it had been widely disseminated decided to "clarify"
> his licensing structure.
I haven't read the licenses, or the clarifications, being, as I said, on
the periphery of all this, nor am I a lawyer, but: If BSD has been using it
in this fashion all these years, and the author has been letting them, isn't
there some legal case to be made of implied consent or some such thing?
(Yes, I realize that expecting justice from the justice system is a bit naive,
but sometimes we get lucky.)
Of course, the last thing BSD needs is *another* long, drawn-out battle over
licensing issues.
--
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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