[License-discuss] Coordinated release of security vulnerability information.

[Thorsten Glaser]

Bruce Perens via License-discuss dixit:

>As a software author, and in order to best support my community, I should
>see security information about my own software as soon as possible. Thus,
[…]
>So, I am not so inclined to value the Insurgent test, or whatever it's
>called. It's fantastical in nature since such insurgents would not be
>restrained by copyright considerations, but by much more severe national
>law including consequences such as execution or imprisonment in the gulag.

Yes, they would.


I think we’ve arrived at the point where the mission of OSI and Debian
diverge, even if the OSD and DFSG don’t:

In Debian, the priorities are “our users” (cf. Social Contract), not
the software, nor the licences, nor the authors of the software.

As such, if you insist on your perceived rights as software authors,
and the OSI were to allow such a licence, we’d run into the unfortunate
situation that this software cannot be included in Debian, which is a
precedent for other distributions.

(Same for MirBSD really, but the BSDs don’t want to allow new code
under non-Copyfree licences anyway. Therefore the discussion has more
places where I have to argument with my DD hat.)


I ask for OSI to not allow such requirements (restrictions) into
approvied licences, even if they may be permittible from some reading
of the OSD, due to the mismatch with community standards.

I carry a list of free licence lists, which would have to exclude it;
it already has a few exclusions in places where the various bodies
differ, and a not-licence (PD statement ineffective internationally)
accidentally listed as Copyfree, and it’d be sad if that has to grow.
See http://www.mirbsd.org/FreeLicenceLists.htm if interested; improve‐
ments welcome.

bye,
//mirabilos
-- 
I believe no one can invent an algorithm. One just happens to hit upon it
when God enlightens him. Or only God invents algorithms, we merely copy them.
If you don't believe in God, just consider God as Nature if you won't deny
existence.		-- Coywolf Qi Hunt