Model Code for the OSD

[Rod Dixon, J.D., LL.M.]

You have presented arguments against the use of "deliberately obfuscated
source code" as well as the reference to "well documented;" since the former
appears in the current version of Art. 2 of the OSD and the latter was used
as explanatory language in the model code, I can delete the latter, no
problem.

Is there any suggestion, however, on how we might illustrate what
"deliberately obfuscated source code" means or should that be removed from
Art. 2?

-Rod

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bjorn Reese" <breese at mail1.stofanet.dk>
To: <license-discuss at opensource.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2003 5:17 AM
Subject: Re: Model Code for the OSD


: David Johnson wrote:
:
: > My opinion is that "deliberately obfuscated source code" should be
decoupled
: > from documentation. The quality and state of documentation is very
: > subjective, and should not be a part of the OSD.
:
: I have to agree with David. The documentation quality of the source
: code is orthogonal to the availability of source code, and thus has
: nothing to do with the OSD.
:
: Trying to establish what documentation quality is, is difficult
: in the first place.
:
: Firstly, people differ in intelligence and experience, so what is
: obfuscated to one person, may be obvious to another.
:
: Secondly, should the quality be judge on the choice of human
: language? For example, if a russian developer releases source
: code with comments in Russian, can I claim that he is
: deliberately obfuscating the source code? Can the russian
: developer claim that all source code with English comments
: are obfuscated to him?
:
: Thirdly, the source code may implement algorithms or domain
: knowledge that is inherently difficult to understand, and which
: would require a book-sized explanation. Would it be considered
: compliant with the OSD to refer to a (commercially available)
: book? If not, how does the developer avoid infringing the
: copyright of the book author while adhering to the suggested
: OSD documentation requirements?
:
: I am sure that there are other concerns as well; the above was
: simply off the top of my head. I understand the good intentions
: behind the proposal, but I definitely see it as a slippery slope.
: --
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