The Rails Wheels licencing system and Open Source

[John Cowan]

Mark Reginald James scripsit:

> - All packages are free of charge until used on a live website.

This violates OSD #6, discrimination against fields of endeavor
(because the software can be used on a system which is not used for a
"live website").

Furthermore, a use restriction such as this can only be imposed by
contract, and there must be a clear offer and acceptance -- for example,
you might put a page explaining the terms of the contract in front of
the download page.  But if Alice downloads the code and posts it to her
own web site without such a contract page, it wouldn't be binding on
Bob when he downloaded from Alice's site.  If you forbade Alice from
putting the package on her site in this way, you'd violate OSD #1.

The case _Specht v. Netscape_ made it clear that a mere link to
the contract terms which Alice can click on or not is insufficient.
(See the .signatures below.)

> - Packages can be freely redistributed in terms of the letter,
>   though perhaps not the spirit, of the OSI definition. That is,
>   a package may be modified, repackaged, and on-sold for no fee,
>   but those receiving the software must be informed of the
>   requirement to check whether they can or must purchase a licence
>   if the software is later used on a live website.

A lawful copy made by Bob belongs to Bob, and he can do anything he wants
to with the copy, unless he is violating copyright law (or some kind of
other general law) or is in breach of a contract to which he personally
has agreed.

> The aim is a permissive redistribution system that allows
> authors to be compensated for use of their software, rather
> than just for trouble with its use.

That's proprietary software, period.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.

Notice: This message intentionally has two signatures.

-- 
John Cowan  cowan at ccil.org   http://ccil.org/~cowan
Promises become binding when there is a meeting of the minds and consideration
is exchanged. So it was at King's Bench in common law England; so it was
under the common law in the American colonies; so it was through more than
two centuries of jurisprudence in this country; and so it is today.
       --Specht v. Netscape

John Cowan  cowan at ccil.org   http://ccil.org/~cowan
Assent may be registered by a signature, a handshake, or a click of a computer
mouse transmitted across the invisible ether of the Internet. Formality
is not a requisite; any sign, symbol or action, or even willful inaction,
as long as it is unequivocally referable to the promise, may create a contract.
       --Specht v. Netscape