Re: Request for licence assessment: spellcast
Matthew Palmer <mpalmer@debian.org> a tapoté :
> Here's the entire debian/copyright file from the package (version 1.0-14):
>
> ---[BEGIN spellcast/copyright]---
> This package was debianized by Ben Gertzfield che@debian.org on
> Wed, 23 Sep 1998 18:43:26 -0700.
>
> It was downloaded from
> http://www.eblong.com/zarf/spellcast.html
>
> Original Copyright:
>
> The original paper-and-pencil version of this game was
> created by Richard Bartle (76703.3042@compuserve.com).
> This implementation is by Andrew Plotkin
> (ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu). It is copyright 1993 by Andrew
> Plotkin. The source code may be freely copied, distributed,
> and modified, as long as this copyright notice is retained. The
> source code and any derivative works may not be sold for
> profit without the permission of Andrew Plotkin and Richard
> Bartle.
>
> After discussion with Richard Bartle and Andrew Plotkin via email,
> they decided it was okay to charge a nominal copying fee if Spellcast
> was sold as part of a CD set.
This software is still non-free software.
Please check DFSG #1 (and #7).
> Here's the relevant emails:
>
> From: RBartle@aol.com
> Subject: Re: spellcast
> To: che@debian.org
> Date: 06 Oct 1998 02:42:27 -0700
[...]
>
> The problem that I have with this is that it doesn't allow commercial
> redistribution - in practice, putting all of our CD vendors at risk of a
> copyright infringement suit. I understand where the designer of the game,
> Rickard Bartle is coming from - he doesn't want anyone to exploit his game
> design to make millions for themselves without giving him a cent. But it
> does mean that it's not free enough for Debian (IMHO).
It is way worse than not being "free enough for Debian". It's not just
for the Debian CD vendors.
A Free Software can be sold by someone without giving the original
author a cent: asking otherwise is a misunderstanding of the Free Software
definition.
--
Mathieu Roy
Homepage:
http://yeupou.coleumes.org
Not a native english speaker:
http://stock.coleumes.org/doc.php?i=/misc-files/flawed-english
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