Best base license to pick?

[Lawrence Rosen]

John and Alex,

> Mmmmkay, you want a reciprocal license with a QPL-style restriction to
> pristine source and patches and modern patent support.  What I'd do,
> if I were you, is to talk to Larry Rosen (he's probably listening)
> about making a modified version of the Open Software License,
> adding some words to section 1c like "and with the further proviso that
> any distribution of Derivative Works be solely in the form of the Original
> Work plus separate modifications such as patches."

I am listening. :-) But I don't believe that such a license would be
OSD-compliant. How can you force the form of downstream derivative works
without limiting the freedom to create derivative works?

OSD #10 was added a few years ago largely to prevent licensors from
requiring specific click-wrap routines in derivative works, but it has
broader implications. How would you get around that?

/Larry

Lawrence Rosen
Rosenlaw & Einschlag, technology law offices (www.rosenlaw.com)
3001 King Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA 95482
707-485-1242  ●  fax: 707-485-1243
Author of “Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom 
               and Intellectual Property Law” (Prentice Hall 2004)