forums

Karsten M. Self kmself at ix.netcom.com
Sat Sep 29 18:02:11 UTC 2001


on Fri, Sep 28, 2001 at 07:45:08PM -0700, Lawrence E. Rosen (lrosen at rosenlaw.com) wrote:

> The current email-based license-discuss is not helping the OSI board
> evaluate licenses.  Indeed, I just discovered that at least one board
> member is so inundated with email that he doesn't even subscribe.  The
> problem -- as I perceive it -- is that the discussions are of two
> entirely different types, and the fire-hose-like email barrage combining
> those two categories is reducing our effectiveness at absorbing the
> content of the messages:
> 
> (1) Discussions about licenses are the most important immediate function
> of license-discuss.
> 
> (2) Discussions about other issues (legal, political, philosophical,
> etc.) about a wide range of topics are invaluable to the community but
> don't often affect license reviews.
> 
> BOTH categories are important and I don't want to reduce the dialogue in
> any way.
> 
> But considering the first category only, license submitters and the OSI
> board need a way to obtain focused feedback on specific licenses.  The
> board needs to know, does License X comply with the OSD?  If it does
> not, what provisions of the OSD are violated and why?  If it does, are
> there any other specific comments about that license that would help
> companies decide whether to use the license or to accept software
> licensed under it?

Another thought:

Many high-traffic lists (of which I'm not sure l-d really qualifies)
have a "news" summary that's posted periodically, usually weekly.  This
usually covers highlights of recent discussion.  Examples include
kernel-traffic and Debian Weekly News.  This might be another solution
to the current problem.

Peace.

-- 
Karsten M. Self <kmself at ix.netcom.com>        http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?              Home of the brave
  http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/                    Land of the free
   Free Dmitry! Boycott Adobe! Repeal the DMCA!  http://www.freesklyarov.org
Geek for Hire                      http://kmself.home.netcom.com/resume.html
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