A new "use" clause in the OSD

[Carol A. Kunze]

Brian Behlendorf wrote:

> Russell Nelson proposed:
> > > OSD#11: A license must not restrict the use or modification
> > > of the software in any way except the following: it may
> > > disclaim warranties, it may grant limited patent use rights,
> > > it may specify arbitration, it may suspend use rights if the
> > > user sues for patent infringement, and it may prohibit
> > > modifications which remove legal information.
>
> On Tue, 6 Aug 2002, Lawrence E. Rosen wrote:
> > My preference is for a clause that is more general and doesn't list only
> > the things we can think of today:
> >
> >    OSD #10: No open source license may limit or restrict
> >    a person's rights to use the software that would be
> >    available in the absence of a license, including their
> >    fair use rights under the copyright law.
>
> While the whole business of expanding the OSD in this area still
> smells rotten to me, I think I prefer Russ's statement.  Not only would it
> not invalidate any of the current OSI-approved licenses, it is a much more
> limited grant, and also avoids the whole rathole of tracking changes to
> "fair use" laws and variances in that between jurisdictions.  It can
> always be expanded later if something vital seems missing.
>
>         Brian

Why not subsume elements 5 and 6 of the OSD within a broader element which
prohibits any discrimination against use, including use for any reason or by
anyone.

Carol

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