License Committee Report for July 2007

[Russ Nelson]

I'm the chair of the license approval committee.  This is my report
for the current set of licenses under discussion.

Title: Open Source Hardware License 
Submission: 
  http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12911:200707:jmkojcilhopeddgknmdj
Revised here:
  http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12941:200707:jmkojcilhopeddgknmdj
License: In the submission
Comments: No consensus on license-discuss that OSI should be in the
  business of Open Source Hardware.
Recommend: more discussion, with some direction from the board.  Is
  this a direction that OSI should go in?  And, even if we do, is a
  license particular to hardware needed?


--

Title: Common Public Attribution License (CPAL)
Submission: 
  http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:12849:200706:pdjppaipccgjbdgekdna
License: in the submission
Comments: Andrew Oliver: Tomorrows software will include Socialtext at
  the bottom of the stack of a much larger aggregation of software.
  Rick Moen: Let's be tolerant of licence-created problem scenarios that
  seem, at best, on the far end of "unlikely to actually occur".
Recommend: I think the board is on its own on this one.  My personal
  recommendation (as a board member, not the chair) is to approve the
  license and see if it achieves the Open Source effect.  The APL was
  not a widely used license, I suspect because of its complexity.
  Let's give attribution requirements another chance in a simpler
  license.  If such a licensed software does not achieve the Open
  Source effect, it will put the issue to rest.

-- 
--my blog is at    http://blog.russnelson.com   | People have strong opinions
Crynwr sells support for free software  | PGPok | about economics even though
521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315-323-1241       | they've never studied it.
Potsdam, NY 13676-3213  |     Sheepdog          | Curious how that is!