On Mon, Apr 01, 2002 at 12:43:56AM -0500, Dylan Thurston wrote: > On 31 Mar 2002, Joe Drew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This license doesn't explicitly allow distribution of binaries produced > > from modified source files; it seems to me that therefore it fails > > section 4 of the DFSG.
Right. I have missed that point. > The last time this came up (in the thread from November 1999 starting at > http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/1999/debian-legal-199911/msg00121.html ) > it was generally agreed that this was probably an oversight and that we > should contact Donald Knuth, but we didn't want to wait 3 months for a > response. Since it's been over 2 1/2 years, I think we can probably > wait an additional few months... I'm not sure this is an oversight, but I agree with contacting Donald Knuth. In the meantime whatever I do, I will keep the package in source form plus an script to build the program and the documentation once installed. If we finally get a response, we can change the section and behaviour later. Provided binary distribution would be granted, is there any other issues to face before mmix should be considered free software? > I'm happy to write a letter on this subject, but are there other issues > we want to address other than binary modification? The point is binary distribution of modified sources. Is the same as "binary modification"? > I note that the Makefile doesn't seem to have a license; do I need > to ask about that? From the current package, that seems to be the > one file that we actually modify. I think we should ask. This arises a new question for me. If we manage to make a package without modifying any file, for example, writing a new Makefile to build it, as long as no file has been modified, can it be distributed freely? I mean, the copyright notice just imposes the restriction to modify each file individually. There is no "package" restriction, so is it legal to include a file in another program (identifying that file as owned and licensed under Donald Knuth conditions) ? I suppose we still would need grants to distribute mmix in binary form, and that could be a bit tricky because cweb underestimates the compiled concept in favour of a mixed doc+code form. Regards Pablo S. Torralba -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
