Re: GNU FDL 1.2 draft comment summary posted, and RFD (fwd)
On Thu, Jun 13, 2002 at 01:00:14PM +0300, Richard Braakman wrote:
> I guess you did not read the referenced paper :)
Not this time, but have done before.
> The whole point of that trojan was that it would be _invisible_ to anyone
> who looks only at source code. It hides in the compiler executable, and
> only activates if it notices that it's compiling another compiler.
So not relevant to talking about changes to the source.
> > Not true with a document, as
> > documents' original purposes or results are less likely to be well-known or
> > even well-defined.
>
> This holds true for editors as well as for readers.
Sure does.
> How is the later editor to know whether or not this is likely?
> You assume that such an unfair representation is going to be deliberate.
No, I'm just pointing out that it is possible.
> I think it far more likely that it will be accidental; and in any case
> someone who seeks to deliberately twist your words is not going to pay
> much attention to your license.
Maybe.
> I think this boils down to a requirement for a stronger notification
> than just "this document is derived from that document". Perhaps
> add "... and is not necessarily a fair representation of the thoughts,
> experiences, and conclusions of the original author"?
Something like that, perhaps.
> I personally think that goes without saying.
Many intelligent people who read small print would go along with this.
Most users aren't that kind of person. You can put a message saying
"You screwed up. See http://you.are.a.loser for help" in an error message
and you'll get loads of emails asking what the error means. So I don't
think that much goes without saying, unfortunately. If it did, you could
put a vague statement-of-intent instead of a license, and all would abide
by it.
Cheers,
Nick
--
Nick Phillips -- nwp@lemon-computing.com
You will wish you hadn't.
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