[License-discuss] Intimacy in open source (SSPL and AGPL)

[Lawrence Rosen]

Nick Weinstock proposed:
> A clear statement about API interaction sounds like it would go a long way to clarify this section.

Bruce Perens wrote:
> Nobody will ever make such a statement, because it would make it easier for you to do things they don't want you to do.

Bruce, I'm trying to parse this. Is "doing things" good or bad, legal or illegal, ethical or unethical, what FSF wants or doesn't want, what Bruce Perens desires or hates?

 

I freely implemented APIs from the day I first became a programmer. You should tell us all what you mean so I know if I was a saint or a sinner.

 

Bravo to Nick! /Larry

 

From: License-discuss <license-discuss-bounces at lists.opensource.org> On Behalf Of Bruce Perens
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 3:23 PM
To: license-discuss at lists.opensource.org
Subject: Re: [License-discuss] Intimacy in open source (SSPL and AGPL)

 

Nobody will ever make such a statement, because it would make it easier for you to do things they don't want you to do.

 

On Tue, Jan 22, 2019 at 2:18 PM Nicholas Matthew Neft Weinstock <nweinsto at qti.qualcomm.com <mailto:nweinsto at qti.qualcomm.com> > wrote:

A clear statement about API interaction sounds like it would go a long way to clarify this section.

 

Some additional considerations:

* What about internal vs external APIs, so internal APIs are “intimate” but external APIs aren’t, similar to the Kernel’s UAPI?  

* Could a library require API callers be under (A)GPLv3?  Or would it need to use something like the Kernel’s MODULE_LICENSE interface?

* What is necessary for API extensions to be considered “documented user calls and data structures”?  Is it sufficient for the maintainers to integrate source modifications even if the accompanying documentation isn’t updated?  Is it sufficient for source modifications to be publicly submitted to the maintainers?  What if either of those were maintainers of a distinct fork rather than the original project?  Is it sufficient for me to publish my modified version on my personal GitHub page as a one-time fork?

 

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