On Thursday 28 February 2008 10:19:26 am Walter Landry wrote: > You just have not been around long enough ;) The desert island test > was first mentioned in 2002 in > > http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2002/01/msg00010.html
An actual cite to the DFSG, but it is from before my time... of course, there is no explanation of how a "licenses in which any changes must be sent to some specific place" violates: 1. Free redistribution. 2. Inclusion of source code. 3. Allowing for modifications and derived works. I suppose you could imply a very specific meaning of the word free... but I think if you do that, you begin to question whether the GPL really flies, as there is a "cost" associated with distribution... thank goodness for DFSG #10, eh? The point though is that reasonable minds can disagree... and as my fellow common-law trained lawyers remember from law school, where reasonable minds disagree there is ambigutiy and uncertainty. Absent an authoritative judicial body, the debate will continue to rage. Holding up the tests as establish orthodoxy is, in my opinion, premature. (and please, don't claim the ftp-masters are the judicial body... that's like saying the FBI are federal judges... the FBI can thrown my in jail, but that doesn't make it legal.) > The first time someone tried writing down all of these tests was in Mar > 2003 > > http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2003/03/msg00460.html > > The page cited in that email still exists at > > http://people.debian.org/~bap/dfsg-faq.html Now this is a page I remember... it is indelibly rooted in my mind because of this fun exchange: ------------------>8------------------ Q: I've flouted your advice and written a new license. I strongly believe that it conforms to the DFSG and is a free software license. People on debian-legal don't seem to agree though. They give explanations for their decision which I find completely unconvincing. I keep trying to explain the flaws in their reasoning to them, but to no avail. Is there any way for me to compel Debian to accept that my license is free? A: No. ------------------8<------------------ Nothing like being so sure of your own god-like status as to shutout debate and deny the existence of a very clear method to compel Debian to accept the license... it's called a GR and has been used in just such a situation (GDFL anyone?), much to the dismay of some -legal contributors. -Sean -- Sean Kellogg e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
