License Committee Report for December 2004

Russell Nelson nelson at crynwr.com
Mon Dec 27 20:56:56 UTC 2004


I'm the chair of the license approval committee.  This is my report
for the current set of licenses under discussion.  If anybody
disagrees with my assessment of the committee's conclusions, say so
promptly.  This report is slightly modified from the November report,
which I did not submit.

--

Title: mindmason license (MML)
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8573:chcedgdidbncghbgaaol
License: in the submission.
Comments:
  There has been some discussion, but nothing conclusive.
  The requirement to notify the Original Author is not acceptable
  since it puts the onus on the licensee to effectively notify the
  Original Author.  This process must be done in a way that spells out
  exactly how that notification occurs, and if there is any failure in
  the notification process, the default must be to allow distribution.
Recommend: rejection.

Title: Allegro giftware license
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8647:200409:ncnfkeknbbmhcknnelja
Withdrawn: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8718:ncnfkeknbbmhcknnelja
Recommend: no action needed.

Title: Academic Citing License
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8728:200409:mmpfkiadnfpihdobmdkc
License: in the submission.
Comments:  Stephen C. North, among others, agrees with me that the
  requirement to cite the software is a restriction on use rather than
  distribution.  Since we very much want to keep that camel's nose out
  of the tent, we should reject this license, well-intentioned though
  it is.
Recommend: rejection.

Title: Educational Community License
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8241:200406:bhdlpklblgkoobnmifcc
License: http://wheeler.kelley.indiana.edu/ecl1.htm 
Comments: Ernie and Rod both agreed it was compliant.  I think that
  it's just not that unique a license, however it's clear that they
  have thought carefully about the terms although perhaps not so
  carefully about license proliferation. 
Recommend: approval.

Title: TURKIX PUBLIC LICENSE
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8862:200410:ldicfnokcepogiogbmch
Withdrawn: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8870:200410:ldicfnokcepogiogbmch

Title: OZPLB Licence
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8849:200410:jneejnfcgpacdjcfbokf
License: http://nicta.com.au/ozplb_licence.cfm
Comments: no comments.
Recommend: approvable, but I expect they will hold it for
  improvements.  For now, table it until we hear from them.

Title: MirOS Licence Template & OpenBSD License Template
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8907:200411:ifijhbodihcacgebbjkb
License: 
Comments: Sigh.  Both these licenses are obviously open source, they
  are trivial changes from the BSD license, and yet the authors
  insist on using them rather than the BSD license.
Recommend: rejection because not submitted in proper form.  If
  submitted in the full form, then approval.

Title: Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL)
Submission: http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:9249:andlakjgknifadmkojmb
License: http://www.sun.com/cddl/
Comments: none on the resubmission, however everyone agrees that the license
  is clearly open source given its genesis as changes to the MPL.
Recommend: approval.

Title:  Adaptive Public License
Submission: http://www.crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:6913:200305:bogcdnbbhnfbgpdeahob
Resubmission: http://www.crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8123:hdjnilkpapgpfpghjfmc
License:  http://www.mamook.net/APL.html
Comments: Rod Dixon suggests rejection:
    http://www.crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8045:fhjijdochomcjklebdkl,
    but his concerns were addressed by the submittor.
  Carmen Leeming says that it is being used by an existing package.
  John Cowan suggests rejection:
    http://www.crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:8052:loibmlinjjjdfphlpgpj
    because of section 3.2, which requires at-cost distribution of
    executables.  Carmen addresses this point in the resubmission.
Recommend: approval.

-- 
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