As you know, most of your questions were hypothetical. I tried to answer
them and take them seriously, even if they weren't very likely or serious :)
At 11:05 16-08-01, Ron Chmara wrote:
>1. If the relationship between Zend Tech and PHP becomes irreconcilable,
>can PHP and Zend fork and/or recover in some other means?
Yes.
>2. If all of the current PHP and Zend core developers die in a fire at
>a convention, can the codebase continue, or will the ZE possibly become the
>property of somebody who could demand $1,500 (USD) per server for licensing,
>and lock down the source, thus killing PHP and Zend?
No.
>3. Is the Zend license preventing useful submissions from people who
>write damn good code, but are FSF believers/zealots, so they refuse to
>contribute, because it doesn't have the RMS seal of approval?
Yes. So does the PHP license, though, and many other licenses, like the
ASF license.
>4. If an alternate engine was written, would it be possible to use
>with PHP? Could an engine be written from Zend code, or would it
>have to be clean-room code, and if so, from what version of PHP?
Obviously, other engines can be written. I was involved in writing two
such engines in the past. Because parts in PHP are very tightly coupled
with the engine infrastructure, it would have to be very similar to the
existing engine, to a degree that makes it kind-of dumb to do in the first
place.
I'm not a lawyer, but I guess that if you were to call it your own, and
release it under a different license, you would have to write it from scratch.
>5. If, say, Microsoft beats Zeev and Andi in a Redmond basement for
>three weeks, until they sign away all rights with bloody, mangled
>hands, can PHP go forward, or does it have to back up? (See the
>tim robbins "antitrust" movie... he becomes a software giant through
>artful purchasing, and the occasional assasination...)
They tried to, but we fought back bravely ;)
What you make of this question depends on what you think our contribution
is to the project. From a legal standpoint, it can go on just fine, we
just won't be in the work force.
>6. If a core member goes insane, can they damage PHP without
>being held in check somehow? If half the core dies, is it distributed
>enough that the other half can continue?
Being a member of the PHP Group doesn't buy you too much nowadays.
>Core to the license debate:
>7. Can the Q license currently used be adapted to meet the needs/fears
>of GPL/BSD and similar folks, without compromising the Zend Tech needs
>for having a saleable product? (there's quite a few licenses out there...)
>from what I understand, Stallman's complaint are the credits clauses,
>others are worried about selling closed source (ironically, isn't a
>Zend package designed specifically for this pupose?)....
I *really* don't care about Stallman specifically, or about GPL
compatibility. I'm a strong supporter of the BSD style license, and if the
Zend Engine license changes, chances are it will be to a BSD license, like
PHP's.
>Core to the debate debate:
>8. Do some people just need to shoot off some steam, and accomodate
>others who do? I get 1000+ emails a day, this is nothing in comparison.
>Of course, I also go days without reading certain lists, which helps.
>:-)
I'll leave that one to somebody else :)
>Rasmus, Zeev and Andi are not eternal, neither is PHP or Zend. Planning
>now, however, makes the future easier. Some folks live in volatile parts
>of the world about to go to war, :-) , some do not. Some take "breathers"
>when they are angered, some do not. So I'm interested in how PHP survives
>everything from worst case to best case... it seems bulletproof, in code
>terms, because the Q license allows at least one form of forking, if not
>several.
Right.
>Having now re-read the Q license a few times, the PHP license a few
>times, this seems unrelated to licensing, and more related to
>"mindshare" or the power fluctuations of a given group, or
>reactionary impulse to Zend being part commercial, part free. Even
>in worst case, PHP could recover in months to a year or so, with the
>hardest part being the social damage of bitter debate, or a focus
>entirely on an engine rewrite.
>
>I dunno. ANy lawyers on the list?
At least you read it and tried to understood it, which is more than what
the average person does...
>Anyways, I'm off to go play in the SF bay now. Have fun, folks!
Have fun,
Zeev
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