For Approval: BSD License, PostgreSQL Variant

[Chris Travers]

On 10/11/07, dlw <danw6144 at insightbb.com> wrote:
>
>  Chris Travers wrote:
>
>  > Mr Tiemann's view was actually quite clear.  The argument is that
>  > some licenses such as the SimPL allow downstream authors to
>  > essentially pretend that the code was released under the GPL from the
>  >  start.
>
>
>
>  "Essentially pretend[ing] that the code was released under the GPL" is a
> risky strategy. Pretending that your copyright
>  license is enforceable can cause big problems.
>

My wording could have been clearer.  Licenses like the SimPL
essentially operate as a dual-licensed work with the express
permission granted to convert the license to another one and use that
in place of the original license.  In essence it allows the work to be
included as if it were under another license from the start.

Note that this doesn't give you any right to enforce copyrights which
are not your own, however.

>  Releasing your source code under the GPL and then pretending the GPL gives
> you sufficient rights to reverse engineer proprietary derivative works is
> quite risky.

This is getting off-topic so I will reply to you off-list about where
your obvious confusion is in this matter.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers