[License-review] Request for Approval of Universal Permissive License (UPL)

[Rick Moen]

Quoting John Cowan (cowan at mercury.ccil.org):

> It wasn't the violent imagery, it was the personal reference that
> surprised me.  However, it seemed likely that it was some kind of
> playful reference to some shared history between the two of you.
> Evidently not (or else you're trolling us, which seems unlikely).

I'd cut Chris just a little slack, as I agree with him that the imagery
was in poor taste, even if jocularly intended.

> And yet OSI approved two Microsoft licenses.  I had a little bit to do
> with that, and I defended myself on both Groklaw and Reddit by saying
> that a license-writer's motives are irrelevant: what counts is the work.

Beat me to it.  I remember directly confronting the ire of PJ's posse
and pointing out that an OSD-compliant licence is simply _not_ a cunning
secret weapon of its author, but rather a set of terms that any owner of
software copyrights whatsoever may choose to apply to an instance of
his or her works.  Some such licences have proved a great deal more
significant and useful than others, but it's inherent in the OSD's
criteria that nobody may gain special advantage.

> Eh, we've heard this song before.  Negotiations never hurt anyone's
> credibility where it matters.  "If Hitler invaded hell I would make at
> least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."

And this isn't even a negotiation:  Mr. Wright has crafted a legal
instrument for possible future use by the public at large, and OSI has
merely been asked whether it meets OSI's criteria for its certification
program.  Nobody's looking to get leverage.

-- 
Cheers,                HULK LIKE OXFORD COMMA VERY MUCH.  HULK WANT TO DATE, 
Rick Moen              BUT OXFORD COMMA GO OUT ONLY IN GROUPS OF THREE OR MORE. 
rick at linuxmafia.com                             -- @EditorHulk
McQ! (4x80)