MJ Ray wrote: > Martin Millnert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: [...] > >>7. no permission is granted to distribute, publicly display, or publicly >>perform modifications to the Distribution made using proprietary materials >>that cannot be released in source format under conditions of this license; > > [...] > >>Section 7 seems suspicious. > > Is this saying (amongst other things) that someone cannot use any > incompatibly-licensed compiler to produce binaries of it?
IMHO, it does NOT mean that. I think that a compiler or other toolchain element is not a "material" -- "materials" are things that go into a structure and become part of it: lumber, paneling, roofing, etc. NOT circular saws, hammers, jigs, etc. This would be as opposed to "tools": from GCIDE: > Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, n. > The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be > made. > [1913 Webster] Based on this license, I believe that the copyleft would extend to things that are incorporated into or linked into the work: software libraries fonts graphic resources but NOT to things that are only used in the production process: compilers editors UNFORTUNATELY, my interpretation relies on the definition and usage of the word "materials". Which I think is less clear than it could be, and perhaps requires a very good grasp of English usage, which may be especially problematic internationally. So, if possible, I would encourage the original author to improve the license text (which shouldn't bother them, because I don't think they intend anything beyond DFSG). Changing "using" to "from" -- i.e. "made from proprietary materials" -- makes it much clearer. There are people who would object further that "proprietary" is poorly defined and also that stating things in the negative is pretty confusing. But I think it is usable like it is, even if no such changes can be made. Cheers, Terry -- Terry Hancock ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Anansi Spaceworks http://www.AnansiSpaceworks.com -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
