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<TITLE>RE: License Committee Report for August 2007</TITLE>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Russ,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">I am</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">asking as the</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://www.ebizq.net/hot_topics/open_source"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ebizQ senior analyst</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> on open source software</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">W</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">hy are you not including a summary on the</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">proposed</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Microsoft licenses at this time?</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">I was on vacation the last two weeks so maybe you already emailed the group concerning them.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Thanks </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A NAME=""><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Dennis Byron, Senior Analyst </FONT></SPAN></A></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">See my investment research and commentary on Research 2.0 </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">See my Open Source Software (OSS) blog at ebizQ.net </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Cell: 508-259-2016 </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">-----Original Message-----<BR>
From: Russ Nelson [<A HREF="mailto:nelson@crynwr.com">mailto:nelson@crynwr.com</A>]<BR>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 5:56 PM<BR>
To: osi@opensource.org<BR>
Cc: license-discuss@opensource.org<BR>
Subject: License Committee Report for August 2007</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">I'm the chair of the license approval committee. This is my report</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">for the current set of licenses under discussion.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Title: Open Source Hardware License </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Submission: </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12911:200707:jmkojcilhopeddgknmdj">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12911:200707:jmkojcilhopeddgknmdj</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Revised here:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12941:200707:jmkojcilhopeddgknmdj">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12941:200707:jmkojcilhopeddgknmdj</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">License: In the submission</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Comments: No consensus on license-discuss that OSI should be in the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> business of Open Source Hardware.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Recommend: Discussion has stalled. The board needs to direct license</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> discuss -- is this a direction the organization should move in?</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">--</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Title: GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Submission:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:13303:200708:caifnpoiechppjdcppgo">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:13303:200708:caifnpoiechppjdcppgo</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">License:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Comments:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> Luis Villa says "my own casual review suggests that the license is</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> OSD-compliant". Andy Wilson says "the GPLv3 and LGPLv3 should be</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> approved, since they do, IMO, meet the OSD. dalibor topic says "OSD</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> Compliant. Both of them." Chris DiBona says "while approval of the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> lgpl and gpl versions 3 is fine, it should be explicitly stated that</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> any amendments must be put through this process for them to be</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> considered OSI approved." Larry Rosen says "GPLv3 is obviously</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> OSD-compliant." Rich Moen says "what you say is abundantly</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> obvious," Matthew Flaschen says "it is OSD-compliant." Chris</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> Travers, after changing his mind back and forth twice, was unable to</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> convince anybody else that the GPLv3 doesn't comply with the OSD. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> Alexander Terekhov is sure that the GPLv3 is a contract, not a</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> license, but ended up in John Cowan's and Rich Moen's killfiles.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Recommend: approval, placement in Popular category as the successor to</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> the GPLv2.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">--</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">We need to be clear about what we want to do with the SimPL. We had</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">originally thought it incompatible with the GPLv2 because although,</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">the license was revised for GPLv2 compatibility, the License: url had</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">not been modified. It is in fact compatible with the GPLv2. Since</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">that was our sole objection, the obvious course is to approve it and</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">place it in Redundant.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Title: Simple Public License (SimPL):</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Submission: </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:sss:12796:200705:ljlcebgacpjodogfcegi">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:sss:12796:200705:ljlcebgacpjodogfcegi</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Revised here:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:msn:12796:ljlcebgacpjodogfcegi">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:msn:12796:ljlcebgacpjodogfcegi</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">License: <A HREF="http://www.law.washington.edu/CASRIP/License/SimplePublicLicense.html">http://www.law.washington.edu/CASRIP/License/SimplePublicLicense.html</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Comments: Intended to be a simplified GPL. DiBona suggests that the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> GPL is well understood and this license is not useful.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Recommend: approval, placement in Redundant category.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">--</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Title: Non-Profit OSL 3.0</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Submission: </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:13299:200708:beaackkhhfafamkcjcdf">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:13299:200708:beaackkhhfafamkcjcdf</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">License: <A HREF="http://www.rosenlaw.com/NOSL3.0.htm">http://www.rosenlaw.com/NOSL3.0.htm</A> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Diffs from OSL 3.0:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> <A HREF="http://www.rosenlaw.com/NOSL3.0-red.htm">http://www.rosenlaw.com/NOSL3.0-red.htm</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Comments: Compatible with the OSL 3.0. Cowan and Swiger both</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> recommend approval.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Recommend: Approval, placement in same category as OSL 3.0.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">David Woolley</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">(<A HREF="http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:13305:200708:beaackkhhfafamkcjcdf">http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:13305:200708:beaackkhhfafamkcjcdf</A>)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">says it's a discrimination against a field of endeavour. My response</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">is that it's a discrimination against a type of endeavour not a</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">specific endeavour, it's one that gives additional freedoms (err on</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">the side of freedom), and the result of the discrimination is to</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">compel use of a different, OSI approved, Open Source license.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Precedent allows this kind of discrimination, since worse comes to</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">worst, you have to distribute under an approved Open Source license.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">-- </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">--my blog is at <A HREF="http://blog.russnelson.com">http://blog.russnelson.com</A> | People have strong opinions</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | about economics even though</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315-323-1241 | they've never studied it.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | Sheepdog | Curious how that is!</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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