Proposal for OSI Certification: The SteelBlue License

[David Johnson]

Just some minor nitpicks...

On Fri, 08 Sep 2000, Robert Buccigrossi wrote:
> Therefore, I would greatly appreciate your
> posting the following license (listed after my signature) to the
> license-discuss list. 

I will echo previous sentiments, and urge the adoption of an existing
OSS license. Several such licenses seem to meet your stated needs.

> The right to use the Program for any and all purposes is subject to,
> and by downloading, installing and/or using this software you
> (sometimes referred to as "User") accept all of the terms and
> conditions set forth below. 

I don't like the criteria for acceptance predicated on the end-user
activities. If this is to protect your interests in terms of
modification and distribution, then use that as your criteria.

> The term "Program" shall include all
> portions thereof, all versions, releases, upgrades, enhancements,
> improvements, modifications, updates and all derivatives, as
> determined by TCG to be part of the Program. 

Shouldn't the parts of the program be determined by copyright law?
What's to prevent you from stating that unrelated code is a derivative?
This is not as far fetched as it seems. What if one module of an
application is derived from your software, but other modules are not,
and can be used distinct from the derived module?

And finally, it is written in Legalese. No one will use the license if
they don't know what it means. It can easily be rewritten in standard
style English without changing any of your intended meanings.

-- 
David Johnson
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