Request for advice on license drafting

[chris yoo]

hullo Alvin - thank you very much for your comments. 

> > > They can not be released from source code distribution.  Anyone who
> > > redistributes software must use the same license, under Def. 7.  No rights
> > > can be removed for the redistributed license.
> >
> > I disagree.
> 
> nothing to disagree ?? ( i think its 2 different animals )

I disagree that there is nothing to disagree :)
I actually mean that I disagree that OSD 7 requires you to
redistribute software under the same license, the logic being that if
it did then bsd-style license would not be open source certified.

> i keep wondering .. why don't people talk to a GPL-competent lawyer
> and have them draw up the license ...

Open source competent lawyers are hard to come by and often require
much $$$$. That having been said, I do plan to have my proposed
license checked by a layer. I would just like to do as much of the
work possible prior to doing so in order to minimise the financial
impact.

> 
> although one can write up one's own license and but i;m not sure
> about other people use the original author's license on other works
> 

Although it depends on the license, usually it is enough to get the
permission of the original  author. I always thought that use of
concepts and ideas from pre-existing licenses would make it much
easier for analyzing licenses, and also contribute to the
establishment of well accepted legal 'norms' in the world of open
source licensing. There have been numerous postings in this list
suggesting that you should peruse through all existing licenses prior
to writing something from scratch - I agree that this is a more
effective method.

Regards, 
chris.