[License-review] License compatibility for FOSS aggregations

[Lawrence Rosen]

Larry Rosen wrote:
> > Once again: Nobody is free to change my licenses on my 
> > own independent works, no matter how badly they want 
> > to control my license choices.

John Cowan responded:
> I agree.  But they are free to prevent you, according to the
> _communis opinio_, from reusing their content in your works
> if they don't like what you do with them.

Not any FOSS license that I'm aware of.

Are you suggesting that there's a good reason for FOSS projects to prevent
me, because of some Latin phrase obscure to all but those of the Catholic
faith, from reusing their free content? Point me to the clause in the OSD or
their license that authorizes that. I'm Jewish, and I refuse to bow before
lesser gods. :-)

Unless you are speaking about my infringing their work in some way, in which
case I will bow to the courts on that.

/Larry 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Cowan [mailto:cowan at mercury.ccil.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 5:12 PM
To: Lawrence Rosen
Cc: 'License submissions for OSI review'
Subject: Re: License compatibility for FOSS aggregations

Lawrence Rosen scripsit:

> Thus it is, for example, that we create both Apache Open Office and 
> LibreOffice, FOSS projects that differ primarily in that they use 
> incompatible licenses for software implementing the same functionality.

That happened considerably later than the OO.org / LO fork, though it may be
the most important difference now.  The issues were over trust and control
rather than licensing, AFAIU.

> Once again: Nobody is free to change my licenses on my own independent 
> works, no matter how badly they want to control my license choices.

I agree.  But they are free to prevent you, according to the _communis
opinio_, from reusing their content in your works if they don't like what
you do with them.

-- 
John Cowan          http://www.ccil.org/~cowan        cowan at ccil.org
A: "Spiro conjectures Ex-Lax."
Q: "What does Pat Nixon frost her cakes with?"
  --"Jeopardy" for generative semanticists