[License-discuss] Greetings, Earthlings! Need quotes for article

[Richard Fontana]

On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 04:28:51PM -0500, John Cowan wrote:
> >   Ricoh Source Code Public License
> >   http://www.opensource.org/licenses/RSCPL
> 
> This is a mildly edited version of MPL-1.0, plus a variant of the
> "obnoxious BSD advertising clause":
> 
>     5.1. Advertising Materials.
> 
>     All advertising materials mentioning features or use of the Governed
>     Code must display the following acknowledgement: "This product
>     includes software developed by Ricoh Silicon Valley, Inc."
> 
> Now the 4-clause BSD has never gotten OSI approval, though it is listed
> as FSF-free.  But I don't see how it contravenes any of the OSD clauses.

Clearly a BSD-style advertising clause cannot (or should not)
contravene the OSD. 

I did find a (cursory) rationale for this one. I apparently thought
that the "Third Party Claims" provision (3.4.1), which is somewhat
different from the corresponding provision in MPL 1.1, was
sufficiently like that of the troublesome former version of the SGI
"Free Software License B" as to cross the line (the corresponding
provision in the Free B license having been called out by the FSF as
one of the reasons why it considered it nonfree). However, perhaps I
judged it too harshly; I'll have to take a closer look.

- RF