On Thursday 15 June 2006 06:06 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Mon, 12 Jun 2006, David Neeley wrote: > > Comments within > > > > On 6/12/06, Steve Litt > > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Why can't the original author label his or her contribution as "Licensed > >> under the GNU General Public License, Version 2", or similar. Layout > >> files are code, so the GPL fits them well. Speaking for myself, I'd be > >> hesitant to contribute anything without GPL'ling it, because some > >> licenses leave open the door for a big bad company to change my layout > >> just a little bit and take it proprietary, and who knows, some day sue > >> me for using code derived from their code, and then I have to prove that > >> mine preceded theirs. > > <snip> > > > There is a considerable debate, as you probably know, about whether the > > GPL is a good idea for areas such as these in which a layout may be used > > to create commercial documents. That is why I would suggest something > > like the BSD approach that permits commercial use. > > <snip> > > > Finally, it is unlikely that layout files themselves would be an > > issue--since the objective is the documents created with that layout > > file and not the layout file itself. I really think that this discussion > > is largely the result of worry over what is very unlikely to happen to > > begin with--but a reasonable application of a license is certainly not a > > bad idea at all. > > This is issue is apparently a bit complicated. However, I think it was a > good idea to emphasize that wiki authors are free to license their work > as they see fit, especially any files they upload. So, for the page > > http://wiki.lyx.org/Site/Copyrights > > What do you about adding a paragraph such as this: > > Please note that contributors are free to license uploaded > material as they see fit. So if you wish to upload layout examples > under some specific license, please do so.
I HUGELY like this. License has always been important to me. I believe the VimOutliner project evolved so well in part because of my original choice to license it GPL. I felt funny about putting my stuff up there with a license chosen by others, so this is a good thing. In a related thread somebody mentioned GPL wouldn't be good because some people use LyX for commercial purposes. I'd imagine the only thing being sold are the pdf or paper output (please let me know if you think I'm wrong), and I'd imagine (please let me know if you think I'm wrong) that the pdf or paper output would be like a report made by the software, not a compiled version of the software. If I'm wrong, my whole business is illegal, as I sell proprietary books assembled with various free software, including GPL. Thanks SteveT Steve Litt Author: * Universal Troubleshooting Process courseware * Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful Technologist * Manager's Guide to Technical Troubleshooting * Twenty Eight Tales of Troubleshooting * Rapid Learning: Secret Weapon of the Successful Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore http://www.troubleshooters.com/utp/tcourses.htm
