RMS on OpenMotif

[Brian Behlendorf]

On Sun, 20 Aug 2000, John Cowan wrote:
> RMS writes (copied here under a claim of fair use):
> 
> > Here are some of the problems of the Motif license:
> > 
> >      It claims that you accept the license merely by "using" Motif. Only
> >      a shrink-wrap license or something similar can do that, and shrink-wrap
> >      licenses are a bad thing. 
> 
> I agree with this, except that I think (without some statutory confirmation
> of the legitimacy of such licenses) that the reference to use is vacuous
> and unenforceable here. (Of course IANAL.)

Agreed; though unenforceable clauses generally have no bearing on OSD
conformance by themselves, unless they specifically contravene the
OSD.  It's within the right of OSI to approve licenses but also include
additional commentary, for instance stating that this would be an
unenforceable provision.

> >      The license is restricted to use on certain operating systems, those
> >      which fit a category they call "open source". Both the Free Software
> >      Movement and the Open Source Movement consider use restrictions
> >      unacceptable. 

Stallman is correct here, we would not approve such a license.

>      Their definition of the term "open source" is very different from the
>      one used by the Open Source Movement, thus causing confusion.
> 
> Similarly, the FAQ explicitly states an intent to conform to the OSD.  

Yep, we've notified the OpenGroup about this, and received no response.

	Brian