Public domain software is not open-source?

Matthew Flaschen matthew.flaschen at gatech.edu
Sun Mar 2 10:02:38 UTC 2008


Rick Moen wrote:
>> Not necessarily, though that's certainly relevant for someone 
>> considering reuse.
> 
> I really cannot think of any other question that takes greater priority,
> in the circumstance you speak of:  It would be a great waste of time, at
> best, to debate whether software in licence condition [foo] is open
> source before verifying one's starting premise.

Again, it's a question for someone considering reuse.  OSI has never 
been in the business of officially validating license statuses.  They 
won't tell you (officially) that program Foo is under license Bar.  Of 
course, I agree that verifying this information is critical for reusers.

Matt Flaschen



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