[License-discuss] Fact-gathering on OSI-approved licenses

[Russell McOrmond]

On Mon, Aug 19, 2019 at 4:35 PM Pamela Chestek <
pamela.chestek at opensource.org> wrote:

>
> I'm hoping people will be interested in helping fill it out. I suggest
> as the first step that we take a look and see whether the headings are
> sufficiently clear and whether we should be recording any further
> information.


Using the following field to discuss:

"What is the trigger for license obligations? (e.g., distribution, private
modification, public interface)"

Suggest language of "trigger(s)", given there may be more than one.

I suspect you'll want to have a controlled and clearly defined vocabulary
for the values of these fields, such that when people look across the
entire table that the entries can be compared apples-to-apples.


The AGPL requires the disclosure of private modifications, but only in the
context of their being a public interface (some presume of any software
that the AGPL software links to, which is where things get dicey).  Does
this suggest that both are triggered, that the "public interface" is
thought to always include private modifications, or that there be clarity
with a third option that conveys the link.   Can anyone think of an example
of a license approved or submitted to the OSI that triggering on an
interface that didn't also involve disclosure of private modifications?

There is going to be a language issue: I get the feeling that some feel
that if software includes a "public interface", that the software and any
modifications are no longer private as the interface makes the software
public.  Many of us will disagree with this use of language.  Being very
clear on the defined vocabulary will hopefully avoid some of these
conflicts on language.

-- 
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>

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