OpenLDAP license

[Ian Lance Taylor]

"Ryan S. Dancey" <ryand at organizedplay.com> writes:

> "free software" is software that is licensed to you using terms that
> prohibit you from imposing a requirement of the payment of a fee on the
> right of recipients of the software to make copies or redistribute the
> software.

I don't agree.  The term ``free software'' normally refers to the
definition used by RMS and the GNU project.  They have defined what
they mean by that:
    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

This essay defines free software in terms of four essential freedoms.
It then also says:

``However, certain kinds of rules about the manner of distributing
  free software are acceptable, when they don't conflict with the
  central freedoms.  For example, copyleft (very simply stated) is the
  rule that when redistributing the program, you cannot add
  restrictions to deny other people the central freedoms.  This rule
  does not conflict with the central freedoms; rather it protects
  them.''

Note that this is not part of the four essential freedoms.  It is a
way of protecting them.  Further:

``In the GNU project, we use ``copyleft'' to protect these freedoms
  legally for everyone.  But non-copylefted free software also
  exists.''

Ian