Microsoft's near-OSD-compliant shared source license

[Don Jarrell]

Maybe it's just that I'm tired after reading heavy stuff 
all day, but ...

I think they have reduced the distinction to nearly one
of pure semantics and dogma, but NO substance.

Under this license, I can:
- use it for commercial or non-commercial stuff
- distribute Source
- create derivative works and distribute them

It is silent on restrictions on distribution WRT 
persons/uses/fees (only has this para 2 thing), and
silent on fee required for this grant.  (Call me 
old-fashioned, but I still like to see "grant" in
the text.)

Does require that further distro be under this license,
which gives subsequent recipient all rights I cited 
above (plus usual use rights).

So, it only says that I cannot, in effect, do something 
that _uses_another_license_ to REQUIRE of subsequent 
distros, what this license accomplishes explicitly in 
its own language.  How parochial is that ?!?

Ok, somebody please set me straight.


Cheers.     dj 

******************************************************** 
Don B Jarrell                don at digitalthinkinginc.com 
Digital Thinking Inc.        512 266 7126        office 
www.digitalthinkinginc.com   972 467 6793        mobile 
******************************************************** 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian Behlendorf [mailto:brian at collab.net]
> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 9:35 PM
> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
> Subject: Microsoft's near-OSD-compliant shared 
> source license
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.asp.net/samplessourcelicense/Default.asp
> x?tabindex=0&tabid=1
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> This is perhaps the one segment that makes it not 
> OSD-compliant,
> violating OSD #9, but I'm not sure:
> 
>   [You agree] [t]hat you are not allowed to 
> combine or distribute the
>   Software with other software that is licensed 
> under terms that seek to
>   require that the Software (or any intellectual 
> property in it) be
>   provided in source code form, licensed to others 
> to allow the creation
>   or distribution of derivative works, or 
> distributed without charge.
> 
> It even includes a patent poison pill!
> 
> 	Brian
> 
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