Free World Licence.

[Ross N. Williams]

At 9:51 AM +0200 18/10/99, J.H.M. Dassen (Ray) wrote:
>On Mon, Oct 18, 1999 at 16:39:35 +0930, Ross N. Williams wrote:
>> I have created a new free software licence on which I would appreciate
>> some feedback. The licence is called the "Free World Licence" and its
>> main feature is that it allows the software to be used on free platforms
>> only (GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, GNU/HURD etc - the "Free World").
>
>This is not a DFSG-free/Open Source license. It is at odds with clauses 9
>and 8 and possibly 5 and 6.

OK. I will address these clauses in a followup posting.


>Well, the Zarquonese qualify as a group, so that would still be at odds with
>clause 5.
>
>Seriously though, I know there are lots of people who are not ready to
>commit yet to a fully free OS, while their use of free software is
>increasing (in particular, I'm thinking of people working on proprietary
>Unices extended with free software and people working with Cygwin32 under
>Windows). While I personally don't use such platforms whenever possible, I
>do advocate the use of free software on them, as it can start people on a
>migration path to a fully free environment.

I understand this issue. Whether you think that the Free World Licence
is a good thing from a free-software evangelistic point of view depends
on whether you think that the free software battle should be waged at
the platform or application level. I don't have an opinion on this,
but I do think that the FWL supports the platform battle because it
prevents the functionality of the software from enhancing commercial
platforms.


>> Definitions
>> -----------
>> FREE PLATFORM: A Free Platform is defined to be any Platform
>> whose software component satisfies the following conditions
>> technically, legally, and free of charge for all entities:
>
>I haven't studied your definition in detail, but it looks like a platform
>that uses the SCSL would match; are you sure that's what you want? (See e.g.
>http://perens.com/Articles/StarOffice.html).

The SCSL is big and complicated. Could you please summarize for me
the main negative aspects of this licence as you perceive them, so I
can focus on your concerns?

Ross.

Dr Ross N. Williams (ross at rocksoft.com), +61 8 8232-6262 (fax-6264).
Director, Rocksoft Pty Ltd, Adelaide, Australia: http://www.rocksoft.com/ 
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