[License-review] For Legacy Approval: TOPPERS License
Carlo Piana
carlo at piana.eu
Thu Jul 2 12:49:43 UTC 2015
All,
I am rather skeptical WRT the following bits:
> (3) When this software is redistributed in the forms unusable
> for the development of other software, such as the case when
> the software is embedded in a piece of equipment,
OK, the meaning of this is clear, although it would perhaps benefit from
a revision by some native speaker.
> at least
> one of the following two conditions must be satisfied:
OK, this is now clear, at least one of the following two,
>
> (a) The above copyright notice, this use conditions, and the
> disclaimer shown below must be shown without modification in
> the document provided with the redistributed software, such as
> the user manual.
The example is clear, but why is it not sufficient to accompany any
distribution in such a form with a copy of the license itself?
> (b) How the software is to be redistributed must be reported to the
> TOPPERS Project according to the procedure described
> separately.
If this was the only option available, this would make the entire
license strikingly non-compliant, IMHO. In addition, reference to a
specific project ought to be omitted, otherwise the license would
practically be limited to a single use -- a one-way free ticket to
proliferation.
I would advocate that, because the condition under b) is non-compliant,
it should be removed for the license to be approved.
All the best
Carlo
On 02/07/2015 06:22, Yutaka MATSUBARA wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> We, committee members of TOPPERS Project, decided to replace the
> phrase "either of ..." with "at least one of ..." to avoid confusions.
> The revised license text is as follows. We believe that TOPPERS
> License becomes more clear and will be approved soon.
>
> License text:
> ----- start of license text -----
> <Name of Software>
>
> Copyright (C) <Year> by <Copyright Holder 1>
> Copyright (C) <Year> by <Copyright Holder 2>
> ...
>
> The above copyright holders grant permission gratis to use,
> duplicate, modify, or redistribute (hereafter called use) this
> software (including the one made by modifying this software),
> provided that the following four conditions (1) through (4) are
> satisfied.
>
> (1) When this software is used in the form of source code, the above
> copyright notice, this use conditions, and the disclaimer shown
> below must be retained in the source code without modification.
>
> (2) When this software is redistributed in the forms usable for the
> development of other software, such as in library form, the above
> copyright notice, this use conditions, and the disclaimer shown
> below must be shown without modification in the document provided
> with the redistributed software, such as the user manual.
>
> (3) When this software is redistributed in the forms unusable
> for the development of other software, such as the case when
> the software is embedded in a piece of equipment, at least
> one of the following two conditions must be satisfied:
>
> (a) The above copyright notice, this use conditions, and the
> disclaimer shown below must be shown without modification in
> the document provided with the redistributed software, such as
> the user manual.
>
> (b) How the software is to be redistributed must be reported to the
> TOPPERS Project according to the procedure described
> separately.
>
> (4) The above copyright holders and the TOPPERS Project are exempt
> from responsibility for any type of damage directly or indirectly
> caused from the use of this software and are indemnified by any
> users or end users of this software from any and all causes of
> action whatsoever.
>
> THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS." THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
> THE TOPPERS PROJECT DISCLAIM ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
> INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ITS APPLICABILITY TO A PARTICULAR
> PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND THE
> TOPPERS PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY TYPE OF DAMAGE DIRECTLY OR
> INDIRECTLY CAUSED FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
> ----- end of license text -----
>
> If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Yutaka
>
> On 6/13/15 09:54, Yutaka MATSUBARA wrote:
>> Hello Richard, Josh and John,
>>
>>>> I can't quite put my finger on why but the way 'either' is used there
>>>> makes me wonder whether the license author meant to unidiomatically
>>>> indicate "both". Can the license submitter comment on this?
>>>
>>> Yes, this confused me too (hence my earlier posting). "Either" in
>>> English
>>> can mean "both", as in "There are trees on either side of the street",
>>> meaning on both sides of it. This is not a situation where people are
>>> well served by the use of "either", but since it's legacy, I withdraw
>>> my objection.
>>
>> Thanks for your suggestions!
>>
>> TOPPERS license is described in Japanese (original version) and
>> English respectively. I think that is basically a problem in
>> translation from Japanese to English. In the Japanese version of
>> TOPPERS License, that is completely clear.
>>
>> If possible, I would like to replace that with the phrase "one of the
>> following two conditions".
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Yutaka
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