On Mon, Jul 22, 2002 at 09:31:54PM +0200, Frank Mittelbach wrote:
> So to come back to (1):
>
> Axiom: after all discussions the LaTeX Mafia, the LaTeX users that spoke on
> this list, and the Debian users that mailed me privately, still believe that
> the requirement for renaming files LaTeX source files when doing modification
> for distribution is essential and helpful.
>
> What i learned from the discussion is that the license should restrict this to
> what we actually need (eg not makefiles, tar balls, etc).
[...]
> A) I would like you to come to a conclusion on (1) assuming the above Axiom
In my opinion, this is a restriction on modification that violates DFSG
3. DFSG 4 offers no safe harbor for this particular requirement.
To review:
3. Derived Works
The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must
allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license
of the original software.
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in
modified form _only_ if the license allows the distribution of
"patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying
the program at build time.
It is apparently the desire of the LaTeX project that the LPPL "restrict
source-code from being distributed in modified form" under a
circumstance *other* than "the distribution of "patch files" with the
source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time."
Any license with that property fails the DFSG.
The license must explicitly permit distribution of software
built from modified source code. The license may require derived
works to carry a different name or version number from the
original software.
Note that it is the *work* for which a mandate to rename is permitted.
The "name" of a "work" is a legal construct which may or may not have
any bearing on filenames, file systems, file handles, or other details
of technical implementation.
(This is a compromise. The Debian group encourages all authors
not to restrict any files, source or binary, from being
modified.)
--
G. Branden Robinson | There is no housing shortage in
Debian GNU/Linux | Lincoln today -- just a rumor that
branden@debian.org | is put about by people who have
http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | nowhere to live. -- G. L. Murfin
Attachment:
pgpgRYlIl1H5v.pgp
Description: PGP signature