Mark Rauterkus : Once more on the idea of a license list.
Alain: OK.
>Alain: (3) The licencing issue is nearly resolved. We
>won't need to discuss it much longer. And it is not
>likely to come up often again, afterwards. Thus a
>mailing list for the licencing issue would most
>likely be useless.
Mark Rauterkus : I beg to differ. Even if the license issue is
resolved, every new user is going to need to spend some time with
license issues. Even the most seasoned legal minds are going to have
certain issues to grapple with -- be they few and far between -- fine.
If this venture of OC is to fly high with thousands of users, from pros
to students, there will always be a new stream of folks coming to the
party. With that authoring task ahead -- and with the tool decisions as
well -- there will be questions about what it means to be "OPEN".
Alain: Maybe so but there will never be as many exchanges on this
subject as there is now. We can�t have one licence for the beginning
then change it substantially en-route. Once the licence is decide upon,
it will remain substantially the same thereafter, unless some kind of
grave error is committed in its inception stage (now). As for the
philosophical questions concerning what it is to be OPEN, they will
surely take place but they may have little or nothing to do with the
licencing issue, and will probably be dealt with a �Politics� list or
something similar.
Mark Rauterkus : A license list and a license archive would be more
welcoming.
Alain: The licence List and/or the Politics List that I am suggesting
could be hosted by the UFP, especially since this list is already
established and not much has been posted to it recently. I will discuss
it with the members of the UFP.
Mark Rauterkus : Furthermore, the "OPEN" model is different from what
most others are used to. Different in a "great" way, but it takes some
time to get used to it. And, there are a number of different "OPEN"
models floating out there -- so there are always the GNU folks with the
artistic folks with the Mozilla/NPL folks -- and finding the common
ground is tricky even when you have been in this world a while.
Alain: You have a point.
Mark Rauterkus : And, to many, once the license terms are dealt with --
all license questions are high-noise. The license chatter should not
get in the way -- and I'm sure it will.
Alain : I am sure that they won�t. Everything about the licence will be
established policy.
Mark Rauterkus : The license discussions on the mozilla list were
silent for weeks if not months. Then things would come to live in very
precise ways with excellent contributions from many perspectives.
Alain: Evidence to the contrary. I may have to re-consider my position.
Mark Rauterkus : Good that the web pages/site get organized with FAQs
and such. But this is an experience that needs to live and grow...
Alain: Amen!
Mark Rauterkus : ...the license experience need not be too engaged with
the programming issues.
Alain: Substantially correct, though the programming�s implementation
as an OC module, an OC C-subroutine or an OC plugin could definitely
have licencing implications.
>Alain: Perhaps, but I don't believe that it is time for
>that yet. There are approximately 25 messages per day.
>It's not that bad. And splitting up would complicate
>communication, particularly on issues that involve more
>than one sub-group. Some lists would become ghost-towns
>because so few people would participate in any given
>sub-list.
Mark Rauterkus : The mail filtering is good for active participants --
but I'd think a number of people would subscribe only to the license
list, if there was one, who are into the free and open culture on the
net. These are the license gurus who have been around the block a
number of times, but would not want to develop in the actual tool,
however would like to follow and contribute in the groundswell of
open-environments that are budding on the net -- and proliferating in
some places.
Alain: Mail filtering doesn�t seem widespread. I wonder why. It�s so
simple.
Mark Rauterkus : Slipping up in the license issue can prove to be
fatal. To the overall tool and to any potential developer with his/her
bosses in a corporate setting. I think a license-only list is worthy
for these reasons.
Alain: The licencing issue is indeed a critical issue.
Mark Rauterkus : ... I'm not going to filter past 25 emails daily to
catch the lone license question/insight/update/challenge either. The 25
message volume is horrid if zero are about my interest, licenses.
Alain: Let�s wait a little longer so that everyone has the time to
respond to your suggestion to make a separate Licence mailing list, and
for me to get the UFP�s approval for hosting it.
Mark Rauterkus : And, a ghost-town is perfectly okay as an alternative.
Alain : I don�t agree.
Mark Rauterkus : FWIW, my programming contributions are such that you
don't want my help there.....
Alain: So you�re interested mainly in the Licencing issue?
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