2a and 2e are objectionable in that they severly restrict the scope of allowable changes. 2d is very annoying, but I don't know if OSI has declared such a demand as unacceptible.
On Thu, 5 Jun 2003, Christophe Dupre wrote: > Hello, > my employer is considering releasing some components as open source. > We have looked at various licenses, but none seems to do exactly as we > need, so we have made this one. > > We would appreciate comments, especially with regards to OSI certification. > > ---- > > RENSSELAER SCOREC PUBLIC LICENSE > TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION > > 0. This License Agreement applies to any software library or other > program which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it > may be distributed under the terms of this Rensselaer Public > License (also called "this License"). 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