> -----Original Message----- > A truly independent open source software developer probably has nothing > to fear other than personal embarrassment. It is the larger companies, > including acquirers or consolidators of open source software and the > corporate users of that software, who need to undertake due diligence. For > them, reading and understanding open source licenses isn't rocket science; it > is merely a cost of doing software business. These companies already pay for > lawyers to advise them, as they should. :-)
Larry, I don't disagree with this, but I feel obliged to point out that " truly independent open source softare developers" sometimes make available combinations of code which violate license terms. And their work is then included in the work of others. Given the ease with which open source code can be transmitted and re-combined in today's world, the failure of one is quickly amplified by many. This leaves consumers - whether they be corporations or downstream OSS organizations - in the position of identifying and addressing their errors. I am not suggesting that there is a solution to this. I just wanted to make it clear that it is a big problem, not a small one. Unfortunately, I've never seen an attempt to collectively share the results of due diligence work, so the effort is wastefully replicated by each and every consumer. _______________________________________________ License-discuss mailing list License-discuss@opensource.org http://projects.opensource.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss
