John Richter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Does anyone know if there is a sort of "socially responsible" open source > license (a la socially responsible mutual funds)?
I've never heard of one (unless you count licenses which prohibit ``commercial use''). Given the nature of the software business, such a license would be difficult to write. Let's take your example of open source accounting software. You might write a license saying that a company which uses sweatshops couldn't use it. But what about an accounting or auditing company? If they use your software, are they permitted to do work for a company which uses sweatshops? What if your software provides an interface which can be used by other packages, perhaps an inventory package. What if that inventory package is written by a company which uses sweatshops? Is that permitted? Is it OK for a third party which doesn't use sweatshops to use both pieces of software? The relationships in the software world can become very complex very quickly. It's hard to write a license which is both comprehensible and is able to segment the user population of the software. [ out of order ] > I ask this because this requirement puts companies with "ethical > practices" rules in a strange position. A company might have a rule saying > that it won't do business with companies that use sweatshop labor, for > example. They couldn't release any code they wrote as open source, because > to do so could violate their ethical practices rule (a sweatshop-using > company might decide to use their open source accounting software, for > example). I don't see how that would violate the ethical practices rule. The fact that somebody uses software which I wrote does not imply that I am doing business with them, any more than the fact that somebody may read this posting implies that I am speaking with them. Ian -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
