On Sat, Aug 02, 2003 at 01:27:29PM +0200, Joerg Wendland wrote: > "contributions: > This library remains the property of Mark L. Woodward. No > contributions will be accepted without all rights being transferred. > If you make a contribution, it will remain available as part of > the public version of this library, but since this library is used > as the basis for "for profit" work done by Mohawk Software, it is not > possible for a waiver on the GPL status unless the library is completely > owned by Mohawk Software." > > Now my understanding is this: you can use the software without > limitations under the terms of the LGPL. But if you want changes > included upstream you have to transfer your rights to Mohawk. Do I read > that correctly and is this a problem with respect to the DFSG?
I don't think this is a DFSG problem. It's already been pointed out that the FSF wants the same thing, and I'll add another thing: Nothing in the DFSG forces upstream authors to accept your contributions under any circumstances - it merely ensures that you can fork the software if upstream doesn't want your patches. This contributions section is basically saying up-front under which circumstances patches may be accepted. It would probably cool my ardour to work on the library if I were to read that paragraph, but I commend the author's candor in stating his conditions up-front. In short, I see nothing DFSG-non-free in the licence. - Matt
