> Rod Dixon scripsit: > > > John, would you further clarify your point? I am unsure whether I > > understand the distinction you are making. An open source software license > > governs open source software. > > Although the OSI certifies licenses, the OSD is a definition of what > it means for *software* to be Open Source. Eight of the nine restrictions > are worded in terms of what the license of the software must provide for; > but OSD #2 restricts the software directly, saying that unobscured > source code for the program must be easily available, but in no way > constraining the license. For purposes of clarification, all of the articles of the OSD may be viewed as referring to open source software distributed under the terms of an open source license. Article 2 of the OSD sets out a requirement that if the applicable license ignored the restriction or contained provisions that were contra, the license would not be consistent with Article 2. I suspect the OSI Board might reject such a license, if it were submitted. In that regard, I would not state that Article 2 of the OSD is just about software and not like the other articles.
> > How did you splice this to get to Netscape > > 7.0? I can post part of Netscape's license, if necessary, but paragraph 5 > > (I think) raises exactly the point Alain raised (but with regard to the > > BSD). > > I suppose you mean the NPL. No, I meant what I stated. I posted an excerpt from the Netscape license below. The fact that it is difficult to view Netscape's license online is not your fault. Netscape's clickwrap in 7.0 is odd and I am unsure why the AOL/TW lawyers advised them to do what they are doing. > But Netscape 7.0 is not distributed under the > NPL, and indeed contains components whose source code is proprietary. > Taken as a whole, Netscape 7.0 is as closed as Windows. I have been > unsuccessful in finding a specific license for Netscape 7.0, but the > general Netscape license at http://wp.netscape.com/terms/index.html#sw > forbids modifying, selling, copying, or distributing anything not > explicitly distributed under any other license such as the NPL or MPL. Take a look at paragraph 7. I do not know what to make of it...perhaps its terms are part of a concession to an earlier dispute. At any rate, one would have to reverse engineer their code to determine whether any of your assumptions are correct. How would one know whether version 7.0 is not "covered code" as defined by the NPL? This is a genuine open source conundrum, and I thought that was the type of issue you spotted in Article 2 of the OSD, but I stand corrected. [snip] - Rod NETSCAPE (r) 7.0 END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT Redistribution Or Rental Not Permitted These terms apply to Netscape 7.0 BY CLICKING THE "ACCEPT" BUTTON OR INSTALLING OR USING THE NETSCAPE (r) 7.0 SOFTWARE (THE "PRODUCT"), YOU ARE CONSENTING TO BE BOUND BY AND BECOME A PARTY TO THIS AGREEMENT AND THE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR AOL (r) INSTANT MESSENGER (tm) SOFTWARE ATTACHED BELOW, AS THE "LICENSEE." 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