Re: NcFTP is free again?
At 01:41 AM 10/1/99 , Chris Lawrence wrote: I just downloaded the source code and can't find an actual license anywhere. The missing LICENSE file was an oversight, in my haste to get something out to the Win32 version testers. Here's the problem with betas 1 to 19: NcFTP includes as one of the components, LibNcFTP. This library is also sold as a separate stand-alone product. It can't be GPL because my customers use it in proprietary in-house applications which they can't publish complete source code for. For beta 20, the plan had been originally to continue to use LibNcFTP as a restricted-use component, but I'm leaning towards making LibNcFTP free across the board. So for beta 21, there will be a minimal LICENSE file which will state that the whole package is free and additionally the LibNcFTP section of the website will be updated to reflect that the separate component is also free. That is, unless I change my mind again. Incidentally, ncftp 2 core dumps after using ncftp 3 (the prefs files apparently confuse it); maybe we should fix that... It's probably easier to have 3 use a different prefs file. There are a surprising number of people who use both 2 and 3 simultaneously. Mike Gleason
Re: NcFTP is free again?
Hello Mike, On Fri, Oct 01, 1999 at 02:42:53PM -0500, Mike Gleason wrote: > Here's the problem with betas 1 to 19: NcFTP includes as one of the > components, LibNcFTP. This library is also sold as a separate stand-alone > product. It can't be GPL because my customers use it in proprietary > in-house applications which they can't publish complete source code for. You can release libncftp under the GPL and under a different license when you sell it. Choosing multiple licenses is not uncommon. Perl is dual-licensed uder the GPL and Artistic for similar reasons. Hope this helps, Marcus -- `Rhubarb is no Egyptian god.' Debian http://www.debian.org Check Key server Marcus Brinkmann GNUhttp://www.gnu.orgfor public PGP Key [EMAIL PROTECTED]PGP Key ID 36E7CD09 http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Marcus.Brinkmann/
Re: NcFTP is free again?
"Mike Gleason" wrote: > Here's the problem with betas 1 to 19: NcFTP includes as one of the > components, LibNcFTP. This library is also sold as a separate stand-alone > product. It can't be GPL because my customers use it in proprietary > in-house applications which they can't publish complete source code for. Excuse me for butting-in... As the copyright holder, you are always free to distribute software under the GPL license, and have people contact you if they wish to use it under a different license. What I mean is that you are free to distribute it widely GPLed, and sell it under a different license to those who want that. (I am not a lawyer) -- Peter Galbraith 6623'rd GNU/Linux user at the Counter - http://counter.li.org/
Re: SSH never free
[Note: I'm moving this to the debian-legal list.] Richard Stallman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I am pretty sure that SSH was never free software. Could you show me > the license on the version that they started with? I don't know what version they started with. However, the COPYING file included with ssh-1.2.0 has the following license information. Note from below that ssh actually uses some FSF-owned GPL'd libraries. This file is part of the ssh software, Copyright (c) 1995 Tatu Ylonen, Finland COPYING POLICY AND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES As far as I am concerned, the code I have written for this software can be used freely for any purpose. Any derived versions of this software must be clearly marked as such, and if the derived work is incompatible with the protocol description in the RFC file, it must be called by a name other than "ssh" or "Secure Shell". However, I am not implying to give any licenses to any patents or copyrights held by third parties, and the software includes parts that are not under my direct control. As far as I know, all included source code is used in accordance with the relevant license agreements; see below for details. The RSA algorithm and even the concept of public key encryption are claimed to patented in the United States. These patents may interfere with your right to use this software. It is possible to compile the software using the RSAREF2 library by giving --with-rsaref on the configure command line. This may or may not make it legal to use this software for non-commercial purposes in the United States (I have sent a query about this to RSADSI (on July 10, 1995), but have not received any response yet). The RSAREF2 distribution is not included in this distribution, but can be obtained from almost any ftp site worldwide containing cryptographic materials. Using RSAREF is not recommended outside the United States. The IDEA algorithm is claimed to be patented in the United States and several other countries. I have been told by Ascom-Tech (the patent holder) that IDEA can be used freely for non-commercial use. A copy of their letter is at the end. The DES implementation in this distribution is derived from the libdes library by Eric Young <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. It can be used under the Gnu General Public License (libdes-COPYING) or the Artistic License (libdes-ARTISTIC), at your option. See libdes-README for more information. Eric Young has kindly given permission to distribute the derived version under these terms. The file crypt.c is fcrypt.c from SSLeay-0.4.3a by Eric Young; he permits free use. The GNU Multiple Precision Library, included in this release and linked into the executable, is distributed under the GNU General Public License. A copy can be found in gmp-1.3.2/COPYING. The make-ssh-known-hosts script is distributed under the GNU General Public License. A copy can be found in gnu-COPYING-GPL. Some files, such as memmove.c and random.c, are owned by the Regents of the University of California, but can be freely used and distributed. License terms are included in the affected files. The file scp.c is derived from code owned by the Regents of the University of California, and can be used freely. The TSS encryption algorithm implementation in tss.c is copyright Timo Rinne and Cirion Oy. It is used with permission, and permission has been given for anyone to use it for any purpose as part of ssh. The MD5 implementation in md5.c was taken from PGP and is due to Colin Plumb. Comments in the file indicate that it is in the public domain. The 32-bit CRC implementation in crc32.c is due to Gary S. Brown. Comments in the file indicate it may be used as desired without restrictions.
Re: NcFTP is free again?
On Fri, Oct 01, 1999, Mike Gleason wrote: > Here's the problem with betas 1 to 19: NcFTP includes as one of the > components, LibNcFTP. This library is also sold as a separate stand-alone > product. It can't be GPL because my customers use it in proprietary > in-house applications which they can't publish complete source code for. This is exactly what the LGPL has been written for: ---8<--- This Library General Public License is intended to permit developers of non-free programs to use free libraries, while preserving your freedom as a user of such programs to change the free libraries that are incorporated in them. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lgpl.html Regards, Sam. -- Samuel Hocevar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - http://www.via.ecp.fr/~sam/ echo "what is the universe"|tr "a-z " 0-7-0-729|sed 's/9.//g;s/-/+/'|bc
Re: NcFTP is free again?
On Sep 30, Chris Cheney wrote: > I just looked at NcFTP 3.0Beta20 and it appears to have changed its > license to free (no license file) and the libncftp requirement of > non-use by other programs seems to have been dropped also. Maybe > someone more knowledgeable than me can look at this and see if it > can be packaged again. Thanks, Chris (Moved to debian-legal; please direct followups there; CC'd to the author so maybe he can shed some light on what's going on here.) I just downloaded the source code and can't find an actual license anywhere. The changelog entry reads: + Change of licensing. Specifically, GPL was shown the door. NcFTP is, has always been, and will continue to be free software. which isn't a license (at best a statement of principles). Furthermore, READLINE-README reads in part: Apparently this special free version of LibNcFTP still cannot co-exist with GPL'd stuff. which indicates that this "special free version" is probably not DFSG-compliant. But again, I can't see a license anywhere, so maybe it is (advertising clause maybe?). The man page says: Thanks to Red Hat Software for honoring my licensing agreement, but more importantly, thanks for providing a solid and affordable development platform. which seems to indicate that there is a license somewhere on the planet, but it's still not with the source. Or on the website. The only actual license (grep -i licen) I can find is in vis/syshdrs.h, but it's a GPL license. And he claims in the changelog that NcFTP is not GPLed. Hence I'm stumped. Since my suspicion is that libncftp (even in its "special free version") is still only licensed for use with ncftp, it would seem to fail the DFSG [and Open Source Definition] on several points. Off the bat, it would fail point 3. Depending on the actual licensing terms for libncftp, I suspect it fails points 5 and/or 6 too (no commercial use of derived works?). See the DFSG at http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines (and note that these guidelines are substantively identical to the OSD). Having said that, the removal of linkage to Readline probably qualifies it for the non-free section (since it is no longer in violation of Readline's license). Of course, all of this is speculative because (yes, I'm harping on this point) there is no license that I can see. So we can't do squat with NcFTP 3 until Mike includes a license. Incidentally, ncftp 2 core dumps after using ncftp 3 (the prefs files apparently confuse it); maybe we should fix that... Chris -- = |Chris Lawrence| The Linux/m68k FAQ | | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | http://www.linux-m68k.org/faq/faq.html | | || | Grad Student, Pol. Sci.|Visit the Amiga Web Directory | | University of Mississippi | http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html | =
