OVPL and open ownership

[David Ryan]

David Barrett wrote:

> Nice to meet you David.
>
You too David. :)

> David Ryan wrote:
>
>> In regards to the idea that contributions be made under a BSD 
>> license.  I'm not sure I see how this solves any problems.
>
>
> I agree with you.  However, I've been persuaded to believe that the 
> OVPL as written conflicts with open-source principles in that it gives 
> the community no "escape hatch" to ditch an ID and go their own route.
>
I disagree that the OVPL conflicts with open-source principles.  I think 
that the QPL has precedance in this area.  I do  agree that it is not 
the right license for all projects.  This is just the same that GPL and 
BSD is not the right license for all projects.

> One proposal to address this was to mandate that contributions be made 
> under BSD.  As I've argued, I think this is legally dangerous and 
> logistically infeasible.
>
> As an alternative, I've proposed that contributors be given the option 
> of licensing their new code under a modified OVPL (which I'm terming 
> OVPL') that does not include section 3.3.  Because this option can 
> only be exercised explicitly, most contributions would simply submit 
> under the terms of the full OVPL (with 3.3 intact).  But in the 
> extreme case where the community chooses to abandon the ID, they can 
> make the extra effort to explicitly contribute code under OVPL' 
> (without 3.3), and thereby deny the ID's exclusive privileges on new 
> code they contribute.
>
> I believe my proposal satisfies the open-source requirements while 
> ensuring that OVPL works as originally intended for all but the most 
> extreme situations (and preserves the maximum value for the ID even 
> then).
>
> Does this proposal make sense?  Do you think it accomplishes what I 
> claim it does?  If not, where do my claims and reality conflict?

I understand the proposal, however, we've already put a lot of work 
(both time and money) into drafting the current OVPL.  I think the QPL 
already has precedance showing that this license does not go against the 
principles of the OSI.  I would like to get feedback from the official 
board before making changes to the OVPL.

David.