Bruce Perens wrote:

> In most cases I suggest a particular architectural design for the software 
> which avoids gray areas in the law like this one.

 

Please train me. What particular architectural design do you recommend? I want 
an architecture that always permits a programmer to implement her own software 
in accordance with a published API, under any FOSS or proprietary license she 
chooses, and thereby let her software become intimate with some other open 
source software. 

 

No FOSS license that prohibits that is truly open source!

 

Best, /Larry

 

 

From: Bruce Perens <[email protected]> 
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 4:10 PM
To: Lawrence Rosen <[email protected]>; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [License-discuss] Intimacy in open source (SSPL and AGPL)

 

Oh, I could have so much fun with a question like that. But getting to the one 
about licenses:

 

People who write highly reciprocal licenses have, in general, reserved a 
territory for people who want to link proprietary software in the form of a 
different license: for FSF this is LGPL or GPL-with-exception. If you want to 
combine your proprietary software with software under the license they have 
reserved for an exclusively Free territory, do not expect them to cooperate.

 

I have, and continue to, help companies and their licensed counsel determine 
what to do in particular cases. In most cases I suggest a particular 
architectural design for the software which avoids gray areas in the law like 
this one.

 

    Thanks

 

    Bruce

 

On Tue, Jan 22, 2019 at 3:54 PM Lawrence Rosen <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Nick Weinstock proposed:
> A clear statement about API interaction sounds like it would go a long way to 
> clarify this section.

Bruce Perens wrote:
> Nobody will ever make such a statement, because it would make it easier for 
> you to do things they don't want you to do.

Bruce, I'm trying to parse this. Is "doing things" good or bad, legal or 
illegal, ethical or unethical, what FSF wants or doesn't want, what Bruce 
Perens desires or hates?

 

I freely implemented APIs from the day I first became a programmer. You should 
tell us all what you mean so I know if I was a saint or a sinner.

 

Bravo to Nick! /Larry

 

From: License-discuss <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Bruce 
Perens
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 3:23 PM
To: [email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> 
Subject: Re: [License-discuss] Intimacy in open source (SSPL and AGPL)

 

Nobody will ever make such a statement, because it would make it easier for you 
to do things they don't want you to do.

 

On Tue, Jan 22, 2019 at 2:18 PM Nicholas Matthew Neft Weinstock 
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

A clear statement about API interaction sounds like it would go a long way to 
clarify this section.

 

Some additional considerations:

* What about internal vs external APIs, so internal APIs are “intimate” but 
external APIs aren’t, similar to the Kernel’s UAPI?  

* Could a library require API callers be under (A)GPLv3?  Or would it need to 
use something like the Kernel’s MODULE_LICENSE interface?

* What is necessary for API extensions to be considered “documented user calls 
and data structures”?  Is it sufficient for the maintainers to integrate source 
modifications even if the accompanying documentation isn’t updated?  Is it 
sufficient for source modifications to be publicly submitted to the 
maintainers?  What if either of those were maintainers of a distinct fork 
rather than the original project?  Is it sufficient for me to publish my 
modified version on my personal GitHub page as a one-time fork?

 

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