Re: Open Software License v2.1
Matthew Wilcox <willy@debian.org> writes:
> Version 2.1 is upon us. It can be found at
> http://www.opensource.org/licenses/osl-2.1.php
[...]
> The Dissident test is under question and does not appear to have
> broad support within Debian as an additional DFSG guideline, so the
> objection to item #9 is irrelevant.
I'm not a dissident (well...), but I am a mirror site maintainer, and
item #9 continues to worry me.
>From that license:
| If You distribute copies of the Original Work or a Derivative Work,
| You must make a reasonable effort under the circumstances to obtain
| the express assent of recipients to the terms of this License.
Doesn't that make it somewhat impractical for mirror sites to carry
OSL-licensed software? I can imagine that an author would consider it
"reasonable" to require click-wrap approval of the license whenever a
file's downloaded by HTTP, for example; that certainly seems to be the
intent of that clause. (It's something we've implemented in the past
for distributing non-free software, so it's definitely possible.)
I'm not sure if it makes it non-free or not, but it would certainly be
irritating for mirror site maintainers and users, particularly if
other licenses (or other versions of this license) start doing the
same thing -- imagine having to approve several licenses before
downloading a Debian ISO image.
Thanks,
--
Adam Sampson <azz@us-lot.org> <http://offog.org/>
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