For Approval: MindTree Public License

[Ernest Prabhakar]

Hi Shahnawaz,

Since I (like many list members) are busy (well, lazy :-) could you  
please provide more background?  In particular:

On Oct 5, 2005, at 9:54 PM, Shahnawaz Khan wrote:
> There is no OSI certified license that is similar to proposed  
> MindTree Public License.

Huh?  That's a very strong statement.  Could you at least tell us how  
it relates to other licenses?  For example:
a) Is it copyleft?  How much?
b) How does your patent termination clause compare to others?
c) Did you look at any other licenses when writing this?

> We want to distribute MindTree IP in OpenSource under our own Open  
> Source compliant license. This license will be specific to IP  
> developed by MindTree.

Um, why?  What specific business needs were you pursuing that could  
not be addressed by existing licenses?

>  Software distributed under MindTree Public License can be used  
> with other OSI certified licenses. Derivative works for software  
> released under MindTree Public License would need to be released  
> under MindTree Public License.

Um, what does that statement mean? For example, based on the second  
sentence, it doesn't sound like you're compatible with the GPL, so I  
don't know how to interpret the first sentence.

> MindTree Public License is attached with this email.

A couple drafting notes:

a) Please, do *not* call your license MPL.  That name's already  
taken. :-) How about MTPL?
b) Why are the definitions at the end?
c) "Confusingly similar" seems a very strange term to have in a  
copyright.

Thanks
- Ernie P.
IANAL, TINLA

>
>
> Regards,
> Shahnawaz Khan
>
> <MindTree Public License.txt>
> <disclaimer.txt>