License Committee Report for September 2008

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Alex Wang (alexwang at sursen.com):

[...]
 
> You may disagree with me, but I always have right to suggest. 
[...]
> Do you mean that you (and OSI) don't mind expanding the open source
> movement, you only concern promoting YOUR open source way. 
[...]
> In total, if OSI only promotes OSD software instead of open source software,
> it's my mistake to bother OSI board. 

[and so on]

Alex, we've heard this pile of rhetoric rolling down its particular
metaphorical hill, before:  OSI is urged to permit a licence that
clearly restricts users.  When it says no, it's told it has badly erred
because the proposal would _expand_ open source.  When it still says no,
it's told that it's tyrannically insisting on a wrong understanding of
open source, that the petititioner is in possession of the real one
(which needs to be immediately adopted in place of OSD), and that in any
event OSI has no {right|power|ability} to tell petitioner and the rest
of the world that he's wrong.  And, besides, OSI and the entire open
source movement is obviously a failure on account of [reason X].

Honestly, do you think _anyone_ is persuaded even a hair?

-- 
"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the 
shoulders of giants." (Isaac Newton)    "If I have not seen as far as others, 
it is because giants were standing on my shoulders." (Hal Abelson)   
"In computer science, we stand on each other's feet." (Brian K. Reed)