A simple solution seems to be simply requiring a URL for the appropriate credit. The list of credits could be automatically compiled using an appropriate convention and be as long as necessary. It would certainly save space. I suppose there is some technical legal reason why this won't work, right?
On Sun, 20 Jan 2002, Karsten M. Self wrote: > on Sun, Jan 20, 2002 at 12:07:53PM -0800, Lawrence E. Rosen ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) >wrote: > > > The FSF website (http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/bsd.html), specifically > > discussing the "obnoxious" BSD advertising clause, argues that > > advertising clauses in licenses potentially lead to long lists of > > acknowledgements in derivative works. RMS wrote that in 1997 he > > counted 75 such sentences that needed to be included in one version of > > NetBSD. > > > > I am unmoved by this perceived threat to free or open source software. > > The individuals and communities who create free and open source > > software deserve to receive credit for their contributions. Is it > > asking too much to require the authors of derivative works to > > acknowledge the contributions through simple notices? > > > > Suppose the list of contributions grows long. Is it expecting too > > much for the authors of derivative works to include a text file > > listing those contributions along with the software? > > These comments are meant to amplify Bruce's comments. > > It depends on where this text must be kept, relative to the software. > > I worked with RMS and Tom Oehser of Tom's Root Boot (TRB), a 1.77 MiB > formatted floppy disk with a live GNU/Linux system on it. In this > particular instance, space (and project management) are at a premium -- > the obligation to carry license on the disk itself means that software > would be displaced. TRB is a study in code compaction and squeezing the > most functionality out of every available byte. > > In this case, both license and source obligations were managed by > keeping files separate. A downside is that the previous symmetry of TRB > was broken -- there's a component which must be distributed separately > of the distribution's working files, where previously it was possible to > create an archive from the floppy, and a floppy from the archive. The > result is the following clause in TRB's license file: > > Caveat Emptor > ******************************************************************* > * This license file must be included with tomsrtbt whenever it is * > * redistributed. If components are redistributed, the respective * > * portions must be included, that is, the GPL, LGPL, BSD, and the * > * programs they cover, must always be distributed together. This * > * means it must certainly be a violation of license to distribute * > * the tomsrtbt floppy to anyone without including these licenses! * > * These licenses ARE NOT included on the floppy itself, it breaks * > * the license terms if you do not include it ALONG WITH the disk! * > * If you really want to be safe, distribute tomsrtbt as a double- * > * diskette set, with this file being the contents of diskette #2. * > ******************************************************************* > > TRB is hardly unique in this regard. Various bootable media (Trinux, > muLinux, LNX-BBC, the Linuxcare BBC, Knoppix, etc.) are both > increasingly popular, and damned useful (I literally never leave home > without at least two), and we'll likely see migration from floppies and > CDs to memory sticks and DVDs in the next year or so. For embedded > systems (watches, PDAs, various devices) similar size constraints exist. > > Free software must be careful about thousand-cuts practices. There are > requests which seem reasonable in the single instance which become a > prohibitive burden in aggregate. Close-binding obligations (e.g.: the > obligation follows directly with the software, and can't be satisfied on > secondary media or means) not directly related to software performance > runs this risk. Multiplied out 8,776 times (the number of packages > listed in my Debian packages list today), they become a nightmare -- > that's 8,776 cuts. > > Peace. > > -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Bauer [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.michaelbauer.com -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
