Comments below:
Hi Peter,
We're not talking about "trivial changes" that would make such a tool fail.
FreeRDP is following the official
Microsoft specifications. We can easily see the difference between rdesktop and
FreeRDP for that reason: rdesktop
pretty much remained the same after the specs were published, while we used
them to rewrite everything.
Apparently you haven't rewritten everything yet, since the comparator
still finds similarites. In any case, a "rewrite" which is done with the
help of the old code means that the new code is based on the old code.
Now if you want to keep claiming copyright on our code base, then please point
us to code which you found to be
infringing on your copyright. Sorry, but you cannot continue to simply claim to
own copyright on our code base
without ever pointing where it is
Yes, we can. The point of my earlier email today was to show that even if
there are no code similarities, the code may still be based on earlier
work. Thus, it might not be possible to point at specific sections; those
sections might not be present any longer, but the new code might still be
based on the old one.
We have done a lot of efforts to respect your copyright, but you are now
crossing the line. You need to respect our copyright as well.
We believe we are respecting your copyright. If you feel that we are
violating it somehow, please tell us about it. But so far, we haven't used
any FreeRDP code at all.
Obviously, you do not agree to the license change, and we respect that: we are
disposed to fully remove all of your
code from our code base. The fact that your copyrighted code used to be part of
that code base does not prevent me
and the rest of the FreeRDP developers from having rights on the code that they
own. By making vague claims that
copyrighted code is still left in our code base, therefore it must remain GPL,
you are blocking the entire FreeRDP
community from moving forward. Not only this is a selfish move, but it is very
damageable. Simply look at how
development activities dropped last week. Maybe you didn't notice it on
rdesktop-devel, but that's because there is
normally not that much happening anyway there.
Let's concentrate on the hard facts; if there is a copyright issue or not.
Making claims without backing them does not necessarily prove anything, but it
does hurt by putting a cloud of
uncertainty over the project. You will always have the ability to make claims
which you can't support.
There's nothing to "prove". It's more of a different view of how the
copyright laws work. We, as well as Andreas Kotes etc, believes that
starting out with a code base and then gradually changing it means that
you have used the old code in the process thus the new code is derived
from the old.
To put it another way: If you had started from scratch, then would FreeRDP
(as of today) have as much functionality, stability etc as it has? We
think not. We believe you were Standing on the shoulders of giants; ie
building upon a previously fine software. Which we have invested a lot in.
You are now given a choice: you either start playing nice with us, or I will
have no other choice but to consider
the current situation as a desperate attempt at killing the FreeRDP project. So
far, you have shown no intent of
solving the matter. We have shown a lot of good will and efforts, yet you keep
on insisting on the same things. I
think it has become obvious to most people ready this by now that FreeRDP is
not something you want to see under a
permissive license, and your degree of insistence suggests that you might have
personal reasons for not wanting us
to exist in such way. Your hatred for us, however, does not remove the rights
that we have on our own code.
Let's leave any personal feelings outside this discussion. We do not want
to kill the FreeRDP project. We are showing good will by carefully trying
to explain our point of view. It is correct though that we do not accept
distribution of our copyrighted code under non-copyleft license.
To make it very clear: we don't want your code, we never wanted it, and we will
never want it. You can't force us
to use copyrighted code that we don't want, especially if you want to impose us
the terms and conditions that would
If you didn't want any of it, then why did you base FreeRDP on it? You
started out with rdesktop, remember. If you wanted a completely different
implementation, you should have started from scratch.
As a side note, different companies and organizations have for years asked
us if they can use the rdesktop code base in various commercial projects,
ie without respecting GPL. We have turned down such offers. Nothing has
changed; companies and organizations are still not allowed to do this,
even if the software has been forked, renamed to "FreeRDP" and then
gradually enhanced and rewritten.
Rgds,
---
Peter Åstrand ThinLinc Chief Developer
Cendio AB http://www.cendio.com
Wallenbergs gata 4
583 30 Linköping Phone: +46-13-21 46 00
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