Re: compartibility of license of Wild Magic library with the Debian main and non-free repositories
"Dominik Margraf" <dominik.margraf@gmail.com> wrote in message
[🔎] 409337ba0603211448s24f6330i@mail.gmail.com">news:[🔎] 409337ba0603211448s24f6330i@mail.gmail.com...
Hi!
I have come across with the Wild Magic library, which has its own license
and has not been debianized to date. Here is the link to the license
agreement:
http://www.geometrictools.com/License/WildMagic3License.pdf
It looks like that is has a qt4-like license style. Therefore would this
license meet the requirements of the Debian main repository?
If not, would it be possible to be uploaded to the non-free repository
instead?
Thanks!
Dominik
To quote myself from a few days ago:
""""""""""""
Wildmagic:
The license *might* be free. It is certainly gpl-incompatable.
(c) The Software may be used, edited, modified, copied, and distributed by
you for commercial products provided that such
products are not intended to wrap The Software solely for the
purposes of selling it as if it were your own product. The intent
of this clause is that you use The Software, in part or in whole,
to assist you in building your own original products. An example of
acceptable use is to incorporate the graphics portion of The Software in a
game or game engine to be sold to an end user.
An example that violates this clause is to compile a library from
only The Software, bundle it with the headers files as a Software
Development Kit (SDK), then sell that SDK to others. If there is
any doubt about whether you can use The Software for a commercial product,
contact us and explain what portions you intend to use. We will consider
creating a separate legal document
that grants you permission to use those portions of The Software
in your commercial product.
That is the tricky clause. It does not prevent sale of the software
bundled with other software (e.x. Debian CDs), but does
prevent sale of the product by itself while under the pretense of
the software being owned by the seller.
The way I read it would allow the sofware to be sold
by itself on a CD if the CD is being sold for convience reasons
and the seller is very clear that Geometric Tools, Inc. is
the real owner of the software.
Let's look at the key statement again:
The Software may be used, edited, modified, copied, and distributed by you
for commercial products provided that such
products are not intended to wrap The Software solely for the
purposes of selling it as if it were your own product.
The protential problem with this licence is discimination against commerical
entities.
I'm thinking that the above clause allows sale of a the library with a
simple wrapper
as long as you do not sell it "as if it were your own product." But you
could sell
it "as if it were a simple wrapped version of Geometric Tools, Inc's
software".
But then again that may be one of the things geometric tools was tring to
prevent.
Other people's thoughts?
IANAL, IANADD
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