On Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 08:25:14AM -0700, David Schwartz wrote:
>
> > And if you choose the GPL the code you distribute will be under the GPL
> > *only* forever [1], so what value would be in shipping terms that are
> > void?
>
> Not true. You cannot chose the license that applies to other people's code.
> The code you distribute contains protectable elements from different authors.
> Each element is still offered under whatever license the original author
> offered it under.
>
> You cannot affect the license grant from the author to the lawful possessor
> of code you did not author.
>
> The code you *contribute* will be under the GPL *only* forever. But the code
> you distribute will contain elements from different authors offered under
> different licenses.
>...
The licence text we are talking about disagrees with what you claim:
<-- snip -->
/*-
* Copyright (c) 2002-2004 Sam Leffler, Errno Consulting
* All rights reserved.
*
* Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
* modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
* are met:
* 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
* notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer,
* without modification.
* 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce at minimum a disclaimer
* similar to the "NO WARRANTY" disclaimer below ("Disclaimer") and any
* redistribution must be conditioned upon including a substantially
* similar Disclaimer requirement for further binary redistribution.
* 3. Neither the names of the above-listed copyright holders nor the names
* of any contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
* from this software without specific prior written permission.
*
* Alternatively, this software may be distributed under the terms of the
* GNU General Public License ("GPL") version 2 as published by the Free
* Software Foundation.
*
* NO WARRANTY
* ...
<-- snip -->
We are talking about dual-licenced code, not about BSD licenced code
incorporated into GPL'ed code.
That other people can distribute the original dual-licenced code
dual-licenced or BSD-only, and that you can get the code under this
licences from there, is without a doubt. But *the author* allowed me to
choose the licence when *I distribute it*.
> DS
cu
Adrian
--
"Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out
of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
"Only a promise," Lao Er said.
Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed
