[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > On Sun, Jul 11, 2004 at 08:54:40AM +0800, Andy Sy wrote: >> I fail to see, though, what it is in those new terms that sound so >> unreasonable. After all it is still an open source license, and >> aren't those terms comparable to the BSD license anyway? > > That depends on which version of the BSD license you're talking about. > It appears that XFree86 decided to add an obnoxious advertising clause > that rendered it GPL-incompatible. Yes, it's still a Free Software > license--even the FSF acknowledges that--but the fact that it changed to > being GPL-incompatible when so much GPL software depends on it is what > causes the problem. >
Yep. BSD's good, but there's always a devil's advocate behind it :) >> For almost all other Linux distros besides Debian (one of whose aims >> is to remain 'ideologically pure'), the terms don't really amount to >> anything more than a requirement to copy-and-paste a notice right? >> > > True, but that in itself makes you GPL-incompatible. Think of what that > means. How many millions of lines of code in Gnome and KDE are there > that link to the XFree86 libraries, that would all be in violation of > either the XFree86 license or the GPL unless they included a special > exception, the way all GPLed programs that link to OpenSSL must in order > to stay within bounds of both licenses. The difference is, OpenSSL's > license had always been GPL incompatible, whereas XFree86's had been GPL > compatible up until now, it seems. > If anyone's following debian-devel right now (and I'm one of them ;) there's a good example of this (although any relation to real world events is purely coincidental). I don't have much time to reiterate that sotry, though, so if anyone's interested look at the archives... it's basically your 'what-if-you're-stuck-in-an-island-with-laptop-toting-wi(n)dowers' tale... > It's never wise to open yourself to the possibility of a lawsuit, you > know, and changing licenses to include the special exception is very > difficult, especially since we're talking about millions of lines of > code contributed by thousands of people all over the world. Getting > permission from all of them could be quite a chore, as you might > imagine. This issue, however, mainly affects distro vendors / > communities, and ever since SCO they've learned to take these licensing > issues much more seriously. > That's why Debian's in such a rut right now with X. Perhaps other distros may just 'go with the flow' and kick out XFree86, but Debian's situation (and yes, its philosophy of freedom) gives it the responsibility (or restraint, in another point of view) to carefully study the implications of (re)licensing and the burdens everyone (and I mean *everyone*, not just Debian junkies, but FOSS users in general) have to carry in reaction to it... >> I believe the real reason that Linux distros (including pragmatic >> ones like Slackware in which you can find Sun's Java SDK and Netscape >> 7 included) are moving to the X org distribution (historically speaking, >> X org has not really contributed as much to X's public availability as >> XFree has) distribution is because they perceive that there are very few, >> if any, real hackers left in XFree right now and that anyone who's anyone >> has joined the efforts of Keith Packard et al. under the freedesktop.org >> banner. > > Well, this is also true. David Dawes managed to alienate a lot of > developer mindshare with some heavy handed mismanagement, so I guess > combined with the licensing issues this serves as the last nail in > XFree86's coffin. Rest in Peace XFree86... > Heh, what a way to waste wetware. Cheers, Zakame -- |=-------------ZAK B. ELEP (Registered Linux User #327585)-------------=| || Web: http://zakame.spunge.org GPG ID: 0xFA53851D || || http://zakame.homelinux.org ICQ UIN: 33236644 || || Location: Daet, Camarines Norte Running Linux 2.6 || |=----------1486 7957 454D E529 E4F1 F75E 5787 B1FD FA53 851D----------=| Debian - When you've got better things to do than to fix a borken system
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