[License-review] Legacy Approval, Licnese of Jam

Mon Sep 13 15:16:17 UTC 2021

Hi OSI,

Just noting that this does not appear to be on the SPDX License List 
currently. Copying SPDX-legal here as well. A new license request has 
been added here: https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/issues/1332

We need to get you/OSI a short identifier for posting on your website. 
Will be back shortly with that!

Thanks,
Jilayne
SPDX legal co-lead

On 9/13/21 6:00 AM, license-review-request at lists.opensource.org wrote:
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>     1. Re: Legacy Approval, Licnese of Jam (Pamela Chestek)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2021 13:51:57 -0400
> From: Pamela Chestek <pamela.chestek at opensource.org>
> To: license-review at lists.opensource.org
> Cc: OSI Board of Directors <board at lists.opensource.org>
> Subject: Re: [License-review] Legacy Approval, Licnese of Jam
> Message-ID: <0e9fc03d-7a8f-822b-f521-a3224d652cab at opensource.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Dear License-Review,
>
> Below is the recommendation of the License Committee to the Board that
> the JAM License be approved as an Open Source Initiative Approved
> License. I apologize for the delay in making the recommendation to the
> Board.
>
> Pam
>
> Pamela Chestek
> Chair, License Committee
> Open Source Initiative
>
> License: JAM License (Exhibit A)
> Submitted: April 25, 2021,
> http://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2021-April/005139.html
> Decision date: due no later than the first Board meeting after June 24,
> 2021.
>
> License Review Committee Recommendation:
>
> Resolved that it is the opinion of the OSI that the JAM License be
> approved as an Open Source Initiative Approved license in the
> Other/Miscellaneous category of licenses.
>
> _Rationale Document_
>
> Notes: This license has been in use for at least 20 years. It is not
> widely used but needed to build the widely distributed Argyll Color
> Management System.
>
> One commenter noted that the license does not expressly grant the right
> to modify, although it can be construed as implying a right to modify by
> stating that modifications must be marked. Another commenter pointed out
> that less-than-perfect language is common in older open source licenses
> and opined that ?In this case it is clear from the license text that
> ?use? was meant to encompass permission to modify.? Both Debian and
> Fedora distribute software with this license, so presumably these
> projects find that it meets their standards for free and open source
> licenses. The original commenter agreed that ?this one probably meets
> the OSD if you assume a lot of liberality on implied license grants
> (both copyright, and patent).?
>
> There was some discussion about whether a license in such limited use
> should have the attention of the OSI, but it has been submitted for
> approval and, to date, OSI has not used the number of projects adopting
> a license as a factor in deciding whether a license can be approved.
>
> For these reasons we recommend that the license be approved.
>
> /Exhibit A/
>
> License is hereby granted to use this software and distribute it freely,
> as long as this copyright notice is retained and modifications are
> clearly marked.
>
> ALL WARRANTIES ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED.
>
>
>
>
> On 4/25/2021 5:34 PM, Jack Hill wrote:
>> As a licensee of Jam, I'm asking for legacy approval of the following
>> terms:
>>
>> """
>> License is hereby granted to use this software and distribute it
>> freely, as long as this copyright notice is retained and modifications
>> are clearly marked.
>>
>> ALL WARRANTIES ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED.
>> """
>>
>> This is the license used by Jam [0] and its forks [1][2][3] (n.b. the
>> boost version is also distributed under the Boost license). Outside of
>> Boost, I don't believe this build tool is widely used. However, it is
>> needed to build at least one important open source package: the Argyll
>> Color Management System. Argyll is the only open source package that I
>> know of that can generate color calibration profiles, so it is
>> critically important for the use of open source software in fields
>> where that is important.
>>
>> I believe that the proliferation category for this license is
>> Other/Miscellaneous.
>>
>> In other discussions [4] I've had about this license, the problematic
>> points were what "distribute freely" meant, and how modifications
>> could be clearly marked. The Argyll fork of Jam marks modifications as
>> follows:
>>
>> """
>> This if "Argyll-Jam", a simple derivative of the "FT-Jam" build tool,
>> based and
>> 100% compatible with Jam 2.5. See http://www.freetype.org/jam/ for more
>> details about FT-Jam.
>>
>> This is the "FT-Jam" 2.5.2 release, with minor ArgyllCMS tweaks,
>> and the ArgyllCMS V1.3.3 Jambase as the default rule set.
>>
>> Note that you'll find the original Jam README in the file README.ORG
>> """
>>
>> [0] https://www.perforce.com/documentation/jam-documentation
>> [1] https://www.freetype.org/jam/index.html
>> [2] http://www.argyllcms.com/doc/Compiling.html
>> [3]
>> https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_76_0/tools/build/doc/html/index.html#bbv2.jam
>> [4] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2021-04/msg00436.html
>>
>> Best,
>> Jack
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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