Re: DRAFT: debian-legal summary of the QPL
Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:
>> I wouldn't consider a license free if it said, for example, "if you modify
>>this program you must add your name to this wiki page as soon as possible".
>>It wouldn't fail the desert island test ("as soon as possible" might easily
>>mean "never") but it would fail the dissident test.
>
> But the QPL also fails the dissident test, and has a much less onerous
> requirement than the "Add your name to a wiki" license.
It's a much more onerous requirement: it has the same effect, that you
must contact the original author, who then gets to do what he wants
with that information. But that requirement isn't there yet, it just
may spring out and bite you at some point in the future.
The fact that it's not active right now isn't a feature, it just makes
the problem worse, in that it's a submarine feature.
-Brian
--
Brian Sniffen bts@alum.mit.edu
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