Can OSI specify that public domain is open source?

[Thorsten Glaser]

Karl Fogel dixit:

>What about SQLite?  It appears to function like an OSS project, and
>meets the OSD as far as I can tell...

SQLite is one of the projects I, as European citizen, can
technically not contribute to. Please don’t encourage others
to follow their example.


John Cowan <cowan at mercury.ccil.org> writes:

>In the U.S., yes, but users of such software outside the U.S. are
>technical infringers.

Ouch. So my information until now is correct.

Wait, does that mean SQLite (for example) is also non-redistributable
and non-modifyable by me (as downstream, opposed to submitting patches
to them upstream)?


Now let’s throw some other, non-USA, government into the play.
Say they have a similar rule about their stuff being Public
Domain, Allmende, whatever. This probably would be only valid
for their citizens, again. (I think the Berne Convention only
says the signatories need to grant the same copyright(!) to
foreign works, not the same public domain status… *shudders*)

You opened a can of worms. Maybe someone should officially
contact the SQLite people and “educate” them.

Just my 0.02 BAM,
//mirabilos
-- 
22:20⎜<asarch> The crazy that persists in his craziness becomes a master
22:21⎜<asarch> And the distance between the craziness and geniality is
only measured by the success 18:35⎜<asarch> "Psychotics are consistently
inconsistent. The essence of sanity is to be inconsistently inconsistent