discuss: Eiffel Forum License version 2

[Christian Couder]

[ Pleaes discuss this license.  -russ ]

Hello Open Source gurus,

For a long time many people in the Eiffel programming language [1] community 
have been developing Free Software using the Eiffel Forum License Version 1 
[2].

The Eiffel Forum License version 1 (EFLv1) is OSI approved [3] but it was not 
listed in the GNU license list [4] because in fact when asked FSF people if 
they could list the EFLv1 as GPL compatible, they said it is not GPL 
compatible.

This is a hardship for the Gobo Eiffel Project [5], and also for other free 
software projects using the EFLv1 or the GPL, because it prevents some people 
from contributing or from joining these projects.

This is why I decided to discuss the problem with David Turner from the FSF.
And we came up with following modified license.

=====================================================

Eiffel Forum License, version 2

1:
Permission is hereby granted to use, copy, modify and/or distribute
this package, provided that:
  * copyright notices are retained unchanged,
  * any distribution of this package, whether modified or not,
    includes this license text.

2:
Permission is hereby also granted to distribute binary programs which
depend on this package. If the binary program depends on a modified
version of this package, you are encouraged to publicly release the
modified version of this package.

THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY. ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR
ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS PACKAGE.

=====================================================

Here are the changes compared with the Eiffel Forum License, version 1 (as 
found on http://www.opensource.org/licenses/eiffel.php):

- Version number upgraded to 2: it could have been upgraded to 1.1 but I 
think it's better to upgrade to 2 to avoid confusion and because there are 
some quite important changes.

- Some numbers (1: and 2:) are added before the 2 main paragraphs: this was 
suggested by David Turner to make it easier to discuss the license.

- In the first paragraph "... includes this file" is replaced with "... 
includes this license text": this was suggested by David Turner because 
requiring the distribution as a "file" could prevent the software to be 
distributed printed on paper and on computer systems that have no notion of 
"file".

- The second paragraph is modified so that it is not any more required but it 
is still encouraged that modified versions of the package be publicly 
released if a binary program depending on the package is distributed: this is 
the main change and this has been discussed on the gobo-eiffel-develop 
mailing list and also a little on the eiffel-nice-discuss mailing list.


This license is now listed on the GNU license list [4] as a GPL compatible 
Free Software license, but I would like it to be listed on the OSI web pages 
as OSI approved too. It will make it easier for people to change their 
software license from the EFLv1 to the EFLv2. Some people from the Gobo 
project [5] specially asked me to get the EFLv2 OSI approved before they 
agree to change from the EFLv1 to the EFLv2.

So could you please review the Eiffel Forum License version 2, and if you 
approve it, then list it among the other Open Source licenses on your 
web site ?

This would surely help spread the Open Source word in the Eiffel world. 

Thanks in advance,
Christian Couder 

[1] http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_eiffel.html
[2] http://www.gobosoft.com/eiffel/gobo/license.html
[3] http://www.opensource.org/licenses/eiffel.php
[4] http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
[5] http://www.gobosoft.com/eiffel/gobo/
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