YAOSL - Yet Another Open Source License v1.02

[Ross N. Williams]

At 5:04 PM -0400 22/10/99, Alex Nicolaou wrote:
>> If I am trying to write a patch to your software, the process of programming
>> involves making a change, compiling, making a change, compiling, etc.  If
>> someone does the modify/compile cycle 50 times, for instance, they will be
>> obligated to distribute or return 50 different patches, one for each change.
>
>Well, Bruce Perens also commented on this, so I guess it's sure to be a
>problem. I don't read the above to mean that while developing the
>changes have to be distributed. However, I could find no easy way to fix
>it: after all, when is development really done? I could claim that my
>own changes to the software are still (and constantly) under
>development/debugging. So to explicitely allow the modify/compile/debug
>cycle is basically a permanent loophole in the software's license. The
>issue is made worse because the particular program I want to license is
>a client-server game, and so it *cannot* be tested without distributing
>the code: all the hard bugs involve network failures that require at
>least two machines to simulate, and some I have never reproduced except
>by using the internet between client and server.
>
>The GPL doesn't avoid the problem since distribution is part of
>development in this case.
>
>Can anyone suggest wording that fixes the issue?

Simple. Just add an N-day delay. Here's how the Free World Licence
does it:

   5.9 COMPULSORY CHECKIN: Within sixty days of modifying the
   Module, you must communicate through the internet (e.g. by
   email or through a web form) to Original Licensor (or its
   authorized representative) the modified Module (in text
   form) so that the modifications can be integrated into the
   Official free version. The communication must contain your
   name, your email address, your web address (if any),
   reference to this licence and clause, a copy of the modified
   Module, and a brief description of the change. You must
   submit each modification even if you do not publish it.

That way developers can go through a trillion development cycles
without having to checkin. But they have to check in eventually.

Note that the FWL doesn't require each change, only the resultant
module.

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/ 
Protect your files with Veracity data integrity: http://www.veracity.com/