For Approval: MN Open Documentation License 1.0
Michal Nazarewicz
mina86 at tlen.pl
Thu Dec 16 19:13:13 UTC 2004
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After years of struggle I finally finished my own. beloved license - MN
Open Documentation License - and here I come to ask for approval.
Different versions of the license may be found at:
http://mina86.home.staszic.waw.pl/mn-odl/mn-odl-1.0/
Most of it is based on the [FDL] and [GPL] though parts from [LGPL] and
[AFL] are present as well (included license contains info where each
paragraph is from). The [FDL] has several issues (see [1] and [2]) and
that was the main reason why I decided to create a new license. IMO, the
OS community realy lacks a license for documentation.
With the license:
* You can distribut (both commercial and noncommercial) the document if the
user recieves or is offered an access to the transparent verssion (the
source code). It is done on similar conditions as in [GPL]. Each time you
distribut the document you have to include license as well.
* You can midifi the document if the modified version is also distributed
under the MN ODL and is easily distinguished from the original version.
That is a bit of requirement but very small IMO.
* You can publish the document along with other documents covered by
different license unless they have similar topic.
* You may chose to comply to this or any later version of the license.
PS. Is it realy necessary to create a legal analisis of the license? I ask
because I am unable to get it done by a "licensed practitioner of the law"
and paragraphs from the license comes from already approved licenses
(excluding [FDL] but paragraphs from [FDL] are beond the scope of the
OSD).
__________
[AFL] Academic Free License v. 2.1
http://opensource.org/licenses/afl-2.1.php
[GPL] GNU General Public License Version 2
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
[LGPL] GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html
[FDL] GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html
[1] Draft Debian Position Statement about the GNU FDL
http://people.debian.org/~srivasta/Position_Statement.xhtml
[2] Why You Shouldn't Use the GNU FDL
http://home.twcny.rr.com/nerode/neroden/fdl.html
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MN OPEN DOCUMENTATION LICENSE
Version #.#, December 2004
Copyright (c) 2004 by Michal Nazarewicz (mina86/at/tlen/dot/pl)
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.
PREAMBLE
The purpose of this license is to guarantee a freedom of use, copy,
modify and redistribute the documents, manuals, textbooks, etc, either
commercially or non commercially. We try to protect your rights by
copyrighting the work and providing it with this license. In exchange,
we want you to respect our choice, time and effort by giving other
people the same rights and freedom we gave you.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
0. DEFINITIONS
0.1. This MN Open Documentation License (this "License") applies to any
documentation, manual or other work in any medium (the "Document")
which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder (the
"Licensor") saying it may be distributed under the terms of this
License.
>
> [FDL] Section 1, Paragraph 1. A bit modified though.
0.2. A "Modified Version" of the Document (the "Original Version") means
any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied
verbatim, or with modification or translated into other language.
>
> [FDL] Section 1, Paragraph 2. A bit modified.
0.3. A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
represented in a format whose specification is available to the
general public, that is suitable for revising straightforwardly with
widely available editors and automatic translation to a variety of
formats. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format which
has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification is
not Transparent. A copy that is not Transparent is called "Opaque".
>
> [FDL] Section 1, Paragraph 6. Modified because there was
> some issues with the original FDL's definition of
> Transparent copy. See [1] and [2] for more info.
0.4. "You" or "Your" means an individual or a legal entity exercising
rights under this License. For legal entities, You or Your includes
any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control
with You, where "control" means:
a) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the direction or management
of such entity, whether by contract or otherwise, or
b) ownership of fifty percent or more of the outstanding shares, or
c) beneficial ownership of such entity.
>
> [AFL] Section 14. A bit modified.
1. VERBATIM COPIES
1.1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Transparent or the
Opaque versions as You receive them, in any medium, provided that You:
a) conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty;
b) keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the
absence of any warranty;
c) distribute a copy of this License along with the Document; and
>
> [LGPL] Section 1, Paragraph 1. Only terminology changed.
> It is also similar to [GPL] Section 1, Paragprah 1.
d) add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License.
>
> [FDL] Section 2, Paragraph 1. Identical.
1.2. If You copy or distribute verbatim copies of the Opaque version
without the Transparent version, You must fulfil conditions in the
section above as well as accompany the Opaque version with:
a) a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third
party, for a charge no more than Your cost of physically performing
the Opaque copy distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of
the corresponding Transparent version; or,
b) the information You received as to the offer to distribute
corresponding Transparent version. (This alternative is allowed
only for noncommercial distribution and only if You received the
Document as a Opaque version with such an offer, in accord with
subsection a above.)
>
> [GPL] Section 3, Paragraph 1, b & c. I removed a) because
> Section 1.2. applies only to situations when You distribut
> Opaque version *without* Transparent version. Situations
> when You distrbute both versions is covered by section 1.1.
1.3. If distribution of verbatim copies of the Opaque version is made by
offering access to copy from a designated place, then offering
equivalent access to copy the Transparent version from the same place
satisfies the requirement to distribute the Transparent copy.
>
> [GPL] Section 3, Paragraph 3. Terminology changed.
1.4. You may also lend copies, under the conditions stated in section 1.1,
and You may publicly display copies.
>
> [FDL] Section 2, Paragraph 2. Almost identical.
1.5. Each time you redistribute the Document, the recipient automatically
receives a license from the Licensor to copy, distribute or modify the
Document subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any
further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted
herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third
parties to this License.
>
> [GPL] Section 6. Terminology changed.
1.6. It is requested, but not required, that You contact the author(s) of
the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to
give them a chance to provide You with an updated version.
>
> [FDL] Section 3, Paragraph 4. Identical.
2. MODIFICATIONS
2.1. You may modify Your copy or copies of the Original Version of the
Document or any portion of it, thus forming a Modified Version of the
Document, provided that You meet all of these conditions:
>
> [GPL] Section 2, Paragraph 1. A bit modified.
a) You must make sure that the Modified Version is easily
distinguished from the Original Version. That includes (but is not
limited to) adding:
- an entry to a section containing list of changes if such section
exists, and
- prominent notices to the modified files stating that You changed
the files and the date of any change.
>
> Based on [GPL] 2a, [LGPL] 2b, [FDL] 4I and [FDL] 4J
b) You must keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and
to the absence of any warranty, thus causing the whole of the work
to be licensed at no charge to all third parties under the terms of
this License.
c) You must include an unaltered copy of this License.
>
> Don't know where those two come from but they are quite
> clear.
2.2. Translation is considered a kind of modification, so You may
distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
2.1. You may include a translation of this License, and all the
license notices in the Document, provided that You also include the
original English version of this License and the original versions of
those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the
translation and the original version of this License or a notice or
disclaimer, the original version will prevail.
>
> [FDL] Section 8, Paragraph 1. A bit modified.
2.3. The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License
give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or
imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
>
> [FDL] Section 4, Paragraph 5. Identical.
3. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
3.1. You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
documents released under this License, and replace the individual
copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy
that is included in the collection, provided that You follow the rules
of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all
other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and
distribute it individually under this License, provided You insert a
copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this
License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that
document.
>
> [FDL] Section 6. Identical.
3.2. A compilation of the Document with other separate and independent
documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution
medium, is called an "Aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the
compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's
users beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is
included in an Aggregate, this License does not apply to the other
works in the Aggregate that are not Modified Versions of the Document.
>
> [FDL] Section 7, Paragraph 1. Terminology changed.
4. WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
4.1. The Licensor warrants that the copyright in and to the Document and
granted herein by the Licensor is owned by the Licensor or is
sublicensed to You under the terms of this License with the permission
of the contributor(s) of those copyrights, except as expressly stated
in the immediately proceeding section:
>
> [AFL] Section 7. Modified though have the same spirit.
4.2. The Document is provided on an "AS IS" BASIS and WITHOUT WARRANTY,
either express or implied, including, without limitation, the
warranties of NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY OF THE DOCUMENT
IS WITH YOU. This DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY constitutes an essential part
of this License. No license to the Document is granted hereunder
except under this disclaimer.
>
> [AFL] Section 7. Modified though have the same spirit.
4.3. Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort
(including negligence), contract, or otherwise, shall the Licensor be
liable to any person for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or
consequential damages of any character arising as a result of this
License or the use of the Document including, without limitation,
damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, damages or malfunction of
any device, or any and all other commercial damages or losses. This
limitation of liability shall not apply to liability for death or
personal injury resulting from Licensor's negligence.
>
> [AFL] Section 8. A bit modified.
4.4. The Licensor guarantees You access to the Transparent copy by
fulfilling the conditions of the chapter 1. Verbatim Copies.
>
> That's my own. Since the author doesn't have to comply to
> the License (s)he dosn't have to release the Transparent
> version. 4.4. forces him/her to do so.
5. ACCEPTANCE AND TERMINATION
5.1. You are not required to accept this License, since You have not signed
it. However, You may not copy, modify or distribute the Document
except as expressly provided for under this License. Therefore, by
modifying or distributing the Document, You indicate Your acceptance
of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions.
>
> [GPL] Section 5 + [AFL] Section 9 + something else
> probably.
5.2. Any other attempt to copy, modify or distribute the Document is void,
and will automatically terminate Your rights under this License.
However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from You under
this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such
parties remain in full compliance.
5.3. If You do not agree or cannot comply with all the terms and conditions
of this License do not use, modify, or distribute the Document.
>
> I have no idea where I took the above two sections from.
6. THE LICENSE
6.1. If any clause of this Licence is unenforceable under or against
applicable law entire licence is void.
>
> That was taken from the license-discuss AFAIR.
6.2. Michal Nazarewicz may publish revised or new versions of the MN Open
Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be
similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
address new problems or concerns.
>
> [GPL] Section 9, Paragraph 1. A bit modified.
6.3. Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the
Document specifies a version number of this License which applies to
it and "any later version", You have the option of following the terms
and conditions either of that or any later version published by Michal
Nazarewicz. If the Document does not specify a license version, , You
may choose any version ever published by Michal Nazarewicz.
>
> [GPL] Section 9, Paragraph 2. A bit modified.
END OF THE LICENSE
How to Apply These Terms to Your New Documents
To apply these terms, attach the following notices to the document you
have written or you are copyright holder of. It is safest to attach
them to the start of each file of a Transparent copy as well as to the
Opaque copy of the document.
<document's name and brief idea what it is about>
Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>
Permission is granted to copy, distribute or modify this document
under the terms of the MN Open Documentation License, Version #.#
or any later version published by Michal Nazarewicz.
A copy of the license should be included in the section entitled
"MN Open Documentation License".
Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper
mail, and provide this License along with the Transparent version of
the Document and add a "MN Open Documentation License" section to the
Document with the full copy of this License.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to
permit their use in free software.
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- --
Best regards, _ _
.o. | Liege of Serenly Enlightened Majesty o' \,=./ `o
..o | of Computer Science, Michal "MINA" Nazarewicz (o o)
ooo +--<mina86 at tlen.pl>--<jid:mina86 at jabber.org>----ooO--(_)--Ooo--
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