On 15 Jan 2001, at 20:33, Mike Noyes wrote:
> At 01:33 PM 1/15/01 -0600, David Douthitt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >What is the best license for a distribution such as a LEAF Project?
>
> David,
> When we applied for the project on SourceForge, we selected
> the GPL license.
As I remember, LEAF is not a project unto itself (show me the source
to LEAF!) but could be more properly described as a "Consortium" of
LRP-derived distributions.
Would this cause complications if other licenses are used?
> You may run into a problem with LRP & Linux which are released
> under the GPL.
I was reading the GPL elsewhere and it sounds as if distributions are
not encumbered by the GPL and can be licensed with some other license.
What was the original license of LRP? Presumably, not GNU since
there is not a commercial distribution (Coyote).... or is it?
> I think as long as the LEAF releases use OSI certified licenses it
> wont be a problem.
It sounds as if releasing a distribution under a license is less
meaningful than releasing software under a license.
It also appears that multiple licenses are possible with a project.
According to GNU, the MIT/X License is "compatible with the GPL."
Also, is it beneficial to release the documentation under the GNU
GFDL (GNU Free Documentation License)? I noticed that SourceForge
didn't have a classification for the GFDL, but then they are about
software anyways.
I also noticed this breakdown of OSI licenses for SourceForge
projects:
GPL 6430
LGPL 866
BSD 495
Artistic 302
MIT/X 115
Mozilla 148
...
So the MIT License isn't the most popular, but it has a lot of
projects using it - including the very popular X11. The thing I like
about it is that it permits commercial use and so on - it is LESS
restrictive than the GPL. I've also liked the BSD License; with the
new modification to the BSD License it apparently has become even
better (no more advertizing clause). This license, too, has been
described by FSF as "compatible with the GPL."
Someone somewhere said that the new BSD license is equivalent to the
MIT/X license.
--
David Douthitt
UNIX Systems Administrator
HP-UX, Linux, Unixware
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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