Dear all,
Please discuss a license that we would like to use for at
least one of our testing tools (http://www.web-polygraph.org/). Since
there are many testing tools being developed, we tried to make a more
general license template for others to enjoy and improve. The text of
the license is at the end of this e-mail. The following sections are
based on item #4 in the OSI approval instructions at
http://www.opensource.org/docs/certification_mark.php#approval
Comparison with existing licenses
---------------------------------
The first two conditions are taken from the BSD license.
The disclaimer is taken from the Apache license.
The third condition is specific to the problem domain and is the
primary reason for Open Test License existence. A test suite often
comes with "standard" workloads, tests, test collections, etc. For
example, SPEC has SPECWeb99, and Web Polygraph has PolyMix-4.
These standardized tests are used in the industry to optimize and
compare products. Users want to make statements like "my product
passes test Foo" or "my product is the fastest in its category
based on test Bar".
This creates an incentive for cheating among users/testers.
Cheating becomes much easier if the benchmark can be modified. On
the other hand, we want our users to be able to modify the
benchmark, including adding new tests. We just do not want users
to fiddle with what is already standardized and "frozen".
The third license clause attempts to make sure that, informally,
(a) users are careful about using well-known,
standardized test names when publishing test results
(b) users can publish benchmarking results and make
public statements without owner permission if they
follow standard test rules or use their own, custom,
test names (e.g., MySpookWeb2004, not SPECWeb99)
(c) cheating users that alter a standardized test to
mislead others and to "win" can be stopped and/or
punished
Open Group and Artistic licenses attempt to do similar things, but
are too specific (e.g., assuming a test is an "executable") and
are too complicated (and, hence, scarry) for non-lawyers. Thus,
we did not want to reuse those licenses but wanted to come up with
something much simpler, more general, and, hopefully, nearly as
effective.
Note that controlling standardized test usage via trademark law is
often not possible for entities that do not have resources to go
after each and every violation of the trademark usage rules.
Thus, for a popular test tool made by a small entity, the
trademark "power" may quickly be lost. On the other hand, a
license does not need to be always enforced to remain in force.
Compatibility
-------------
The license does not prohibit or restrict distribution of Open
Test software in conjunction with software distributed under
other licenses. The license does not seem to permit
relicensing OWNER's software under different terms. Thus, I am not
sure how to answer the "Which license do you think will take
precedence for derivative or combined works?" question in general,
other than saying that all licenses may apply. IANAL, so
if the above answer is not satisfactory, please guide me.
Plain text version
------------------
Attached below.
Please discuss.
Thank you,
Alex.
--
Protocol performance, functionality, and reliability testing.
Tools, services, and know-how.
http://www.measurement-factory.com/
Open Test License
Version 1.1
Copyright (c) <YEAR>, <OWNER>
All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use of this software and documentation in any form,
with or without modifications, are permitted provided that the
following three conditions are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in other forms must reproduce the above
copyright notice, this list of conditions, and the following
disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
provided with the distribution.
3. Publication of results from standardized tests contained within
this software (<TESTNAME>, <TESTNAME>) must either strictly
adhere to the execution rules for such tests or be accompanied
by explicit prior written permission of <OWNER>.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED
AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
--
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