Open source shareware?

[phil hunt]

On Thursday 08 November 2001  4:21 pm, Feller, Joe wrote:
> Forrest J. Cavalier III [mailto:mibsoft at mibsoftware.com] wrote:
> > Can someone point out the OSD violation of a shareware
> > license such as the following?  I realize it violates
> > the spirit of the OSD, but I cannot find where it violates
> > the "letter" of the OSD.  The OSD is silent on "use" and
> > I think this illustrates the problem.
>
> I think the OSD is subtle, but not silent, on this issue
>
> "If you decide to run the software after a 30 day evaluation
> period, you must pay a fee of $20 to <copyright holder.>"
>
> is, to my mind, a violation of clause 6 "No Discrimination Against
> Fields of Endeavor" which states that "The license must not
> restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field
> of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from
> being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research."
>
> In this case, the license discriminates against one particular
> field of endeavor, namely use of the product for greater than 30
> days without payment.

A time period isn't a field of endeavour. A field of endeavour means
what you use the program for, (such as shipbuilding, or education,
or running an ISP); it doesn't mean how long you use it for, and
to assert that it does is merely an abuse of language.

-- 
*** Philip Hunt *** philh at comuno.freeserve.co.uk ***

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