A prototype License Wizard up and running

[Alex Rousskov]

On Thu, 2005/04/07 (MDT), <jclift at digitaldistribution.com> wrote:
> John Cowan wrote:
>> Bruce Perens scripsit:
>>> *Enforced sharing:* Terms must apply to all derivative works, and the  
>>> license terms are such that callers of the code are considered  
>>> derivative. This is what Rosen calls a /Reciprocal/ license in his  
>>> book.
>>
>>  This is the FSF's view of the GPL, but not Rosen's view of it.
>
> Hmmm.... should we look instead to the *legal* view of these things as  
> more definitive?

We should, when one is "clearly" available. AFAIK, the "point of view"  
differences mentioned above have not been "legally" resolved yet. In other  
words, many people (including lawyers) still support each of the  
conflicting points of view.

> Having a discussion about XYZ person's point of view having differences  
> to ABC's point of view is kind of moot for us, when we have a  
> specialised legal group (OSI & friends) possibly able to assist.

... by providing their own point of view :-)?

see below for a serious treatment of the subject.

> Right here and now speaking, from a "lets make an online OSI license  
> guide" perspective, how do we structure the questions appropriately to  
> guide people amongst the groups to a correct answer?

IMHO, in some cases, there will be more than one "correct answer". We have  
to embrace that instead of trying to "engineer" some of the answers away.  
This is one of the primary differences between CC and OSI situations.

For example, the wizard might ask:

	``There is no clear legal interpretation of whether X is true. Even OSI  
board is divided on this issue! You can read these conflicting points of  
view <here> and <there>. Do _you_ think X is true?

	- Yes, X is probably true.
	- No, X is probably false.
	- Hmm... This seems important, but I cannot decide.
	- I do not care, why do you ask?!
''

The wizard will then make appropriate adjustments to license weights... Do  
you see what I am getting at?

Thanks,

Alex.