License Committee Report

[Jan Dockx]

On 8 Nov 2004, at 8:35h, Russell Nelson wrote:

> 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.
>
> --
>
>

> 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.
>

I for one, don't agree with this assessment. The issue of the submitter
is real, and doesn't impose on the
spirit of Open Source. More to the point, I think that the license does
not impose a restriction on use,
but it does impose a restriction on the _distribution_ of the data and
results gained from using the
software. I believe the difference is significant. This issue doesn't
differ significantly from the "obnoxious
BSD advertising clause"-issue of the original BSD license, and the
original BSD license is approved obviously.
I ask the committee to take a second look at this issue.