Intel's proposed BSD + Patent License

[Russell Nelson]

John Cowan writes:
 > Russell Nelson wrote:
 > > s/BSD/GPL/, burn a CD, and send it to me.  You are now using a
 > > GPL-licensed OS.  But that's besides the point, really.  The point is
 > > whether a license which is open source can become not so if a patent
 > > license is included with it.
 > 
 > Framed that way, certainly.  But can a license that discriminates
 > against certain classes of users be Open Source, even if it offers
 > *some* rights even to the discriminated-against group?

Sure, why not?  The GPL discriminates against people who want to
create proprietary derivative copies.

Understand that the patent grant is not what is creating the
discrimination.  It is the existance of software patents.  They are
evil and must be destroyed.  But until they are, we have to deal with
them.

 > The Intel license affects users directly, limiting what they can use
 > the code for.  It prohibits extension or re-use of the code by
 > developers.  It breaches both the letter and the spirit of the OSD.
 > It ought not to be approved by OSI.

It is certainly a controversial license, and will not be approved
hastily.

-- 
-russ nelson <sig at russnelson.com>  http://russnelson.com
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