Re: [non-free] Packaging a closed-source application with limited distribution access
On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 11:18 PM, Don Armstrong <don@debian.org> wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Sep 2009, Pau Garcia i Quiles wrote:
>> I would like to package Intersystems Caché, a proprietary database by
>> Intersystems and upload it to non-free.
>
> [...]
>
>> Questions
>>
>> - Is this kind of software, with such a limited access to the binary
>> tarball, allowed to be in non-free?
>
> If we actually have permission to distribute it on all of our mirrors
> (and any future mirrors of Debian), there's no real reason why it
> couldn't be distributed. However, since no one can actually use it in
> any interesting way without it being licensed, I'm not sure if it
> makes sense for Debian to distribute it. [It also really depends on
> the terms of the actual license; Debian shouldn't be exposed to any
> additional liability by distributing it.]
Well, you can actually use it in a useful and interesting way without
being licensed: as a local database. For instance, Amarok uses MySQL
locally. The single-connection ("single-user" was a bad wording)
license allows you to do that.
> But that said, your question is really more of one for ftpmasters; I'd
> send a message to ftpmaster@debian.org and make sure that you get the
> permision required for upload initially.
Thank you. I will do that when I get redistribution permission from
Intersystems.
--
Pau Garcia i Quiles
http://www.elpauer.org
(Due to my workload, I may need 10 days to answer)
Reply to: