On Mon, Apr 08, 2002 at 09:34:31AM +0200, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi,
> Thank you all for your patience whilst waiting for me to read and
> digest all of your comments. I hope most of your concerns will be
> addessed below. I now have had enough time to read all your replies,
> requests comments and criticisms very carefully.
>
> I'll be replying to some emails in particular, to get rid of some
> points and fears expressed, they are also on this list. This here
> missive is just to set out the general points.
>
> First of all, I must admit that the criticisms were less sharp than I
> feared that some might be, which indicates, broadly speaking, a
> general agreement with most of the principles set out earlier, if not
> necessarily with the implemenation of them.
probably wrong. It indicates that the provisorial license was so badly
formulated that everyone found his loophole in it and was happy.
> I have more or less amalgamated all of your comments and criticisms,
> to avoid having to reply to each e-mail individually. I hope you all
> don’t mind. If I have forgotten to reply to a particular point you
> have made, please let me know.
>
> Before I start out, I would just like to define the words ‘original
> sources’. These are the sources of SMSQ/E as I shall (hopefully soon)
> get them from Tony Tebby. ‘Official sources’ are those distributed by
> the registrat, which comprise the original sources and any
> modifications/additions that will hopefully be made.
>
> Before going into the details, I want, agan, to stress a point. A
> pretty high degree of control has been retained over what will be an
> ‘official release’ and what will not be. Many people have objected to
> some aspect or other of this control. Please be aware that this wasn’t
> done because I, or anybody else, is a control freak, nor that I, or
> anybody else, revels in the “power” that control supposedly gives us.
> I am really concerned about the fragmentation of SMSQE. There are
> already 3 QDOS related systems out there:
> - QDOS and QDOS Classic (as available on the Q40/Q60)
> - Mineva
> - SMSQ/E.
> If we split this up even further, we will only divide our community
> even further, getting to the point where there will be programs that
> run only on one machne, and only on one OS on that machine. THAT IS
> SOMETHING WE MUST ABSOLUTELY AVOID.
the point is that with a usable licence you could have cured the
split between Minerva, QDOS Classic (technically unrelated to QDOS)
and SMSQ. With this license you only avoid new splits and new
development in this one branch
I will happilly contribute to whatever SMSQ alternatives there are.
> MOREOVER:
> When you submit your additions/modifications, you may tell me whether
> they are to be :
> - distributed as part of the official release source code and binaries,
> which means that anybody can have a look at them, or
> - distributed only as part of the official release binaries, that way
> you keep your source secret (except from the registrar).
what about source only?
> As a personal note, I must add that this latter option is not
> completely to my liking, but concern about it was very clearly
> expressed in some quaters, so this option had to be included. I
> personally would prefer every change to be included in the source as
> well, but that's life.
no problem as long as the thing works without that part. If it doesn't
I don't want it. I have the disassembly already now, there is nothing
I would gain from such a license.
People can sell their stuff separately if they want to sell it.
> The reason I don't like this "secrecy clause" so much is, again,
> coherence. Suppose any author make a useful addition to SMSQ/E, but
> asks me not to publish the source thereof. I would, of course, abide
> by this request. How do I then go about attempting to get this new
> feature onto the other machines?
>
> Please also note that some parts, which are distributed with SMSQ/E
> are not part of SMSQ/E.. This, for example, is the case of QPC
> itself. QPC is the software that (roughly speaking) is the 68K
> emulator runing under wndows. SMSQ/E runs on top of it. Neiher Tony
> Tebby nor mself have any say nor right to QPC itself.
>
>
> Resellers and binaries.
>
> This is probably THE thorn in the side of most. Frankly, I anticipated
> more problems on other aspects, but the discussions seem to have
> focussed on this point.
>
> To clarify the situation, this is as follows:
>
> Source code:
> You may get the official release, in source code form only from the
> registrar, i.e. me. Once you have the source code, you may compile it,
> or modify it or add to it. If you want, you can pass your
> modifications/additions to me (see above), but you don’t have to. You
> can keep them for yourself (why?).
> You may also distribute the SOURCE CODE ONLY, provided that
> -this is done entirely free of charge
> -not done via a Website or FTP.
allright, someone will setup an rdist daemon than. This point is
ridiculous. What is a website differnet from a mailing list or email
list or TFTP or samba or NFS or snail or POP or IMAP or any other way
to distribute the code?
You may choose following formulation for your license, perhaps it
follows your intentions:
Anyone is free to distribute the source code provided that:
a) he doesn't receive any form of payment or reimbursement
b) the distribution method is guaranteed to cost him at
least 10 Euro and 2 hours of work per copy
c) the distribution method delays the expected delivery
by at least 1 working day after the request has been made
.. I have probably missed a few points
> The reason I’m doing it by avooiding the Web is that I hope that this
> will allow the registrar a bit more control over the sources,
> something I don’t make any secret of.
very helpful.. but I am not involved so why bother.
I will *more than happilly* leave the fun to disassemble broken
SMSQ-Q40 code, diagnose problems in it and implement workarounds
or fixes to the resellers who - according to your license - are
obliged to do support. It is really nice to see appointed
professionals and not some amateurs doing this.
Bye
Richard
