Nedit 5.0 license questions
(This email refers to both
http://www.debian.org/social_contract.html#guidelines and
and ftp://ftp.fnal.gov/pub/nedit/v5_0/README )
The Nedit 5.0 license has a couple of phrases that, depending on
interpretation, could force it stay in the non-free part of Debian, or
allow it to move to the main distribution.
First, the license contains the phrase "Any distribution of the
software available from this server shall be at no charge, except for
nominal media and distribution costs." The word "nominal" could be
interpreted to mean "whatever you can justify on the basis of media
cost, duplication charges, time of people involved, and so on."
(quoted from the Artistic license). If we interpret the license this
way, then this phrase is in compliance with DFSG #1 -- Free
Redistribution. It would be nice to have a clearer definition of
what "nominal media and distribution costs." is supposed to mean.
The other phrase that is difficult to interpret is the phrase: "To
obtain a license to commercialize any of the software programs
available from this server, contact FNAL's Office of Research and
Technology Applications...". This could be interpreted as violating
DFSG #1. A different interpretation could be that (again quoting
from the Artistic license) "You may not charge a fee for this Package
itself. However, you may distribute this Package in aggregate with
other (possibly commercial) programs as part of a larger (possibly
commercial) software distribution...". With this reading, if you
wish to charge a fee for Nedit _by itself_, you should contact them
for an alternative license that allows this. With this reading, we
are not prevented from distributing Nedit in main, because we are not
commercializing Nedit, but rather, distributing Nedit for free (plus
nominal media and distribution costs) as part of our distribution.
It would be nice to have a clearer definition of what the word
"commercialize" is supposed to mean in this context.
Anyway, what say you? Should Nedit 5.0 go into main, non-free, or
contrib? The full license follows this email.
-Erik
--
Erik B. Andersen Web: http://www.inconnect.com/~andersen/
email: andersee@debian.org
--This message was written using 73% post-consumer electrons--
Nedit 5.0 license:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN FULL
============================
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fermitools Software Legal Information - October 16, 1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT STATUS: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) documents are
sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No.
DE-AC02-76CH03000. Therefore, the U.S. Government retains a non-exclusive,
royalty-free license to publish or reproduce these documents or software for
U.S. Government purposes. All documents and software available from this
server are protected under the U.S. and Foreign Copyright Laws, and FNAL
reserves all rights.
Terms and Conditions
--------------------
When a User distributes or otherwise obtains a software package included in
the Fermilab Software Tools Program, the user agrees to abide by the Terms and
Conditions of the Program below:
o Any redistribution of the software shall be accompanied by this
INFORMATION/LICENSE file and the product's ORIGIN file.
o The User shall acknowledge the origin of the software as set forth
below:
"This work was performed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory,
operated by Universities Research Association, Inc., under contract
DE-AC02-76CH03000 with the U.S. Department of Energy."
o The user is asked to feed back problems, benefits, and/or suggestions
about the software to the Fermilab Software Providers and/or Fermitools
management.
o Any distribution of the software available from this server shall be at
no charge, except for nominal media and distribution costs. To obtain a
license to commercialize any of the software programs available from this
server, contact FNAL's Office of Research and Technology Applications,
P.O. Box 500, MS-200, Batavia, IL 60510-0500.
Indemnification by User of Third Party Claims and Disclaimer of Liability
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The User, his/her directors, officers, employees, and agents hereby release
and waive all claims against Universities Research Association, Inc. (URA)
operator of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, its trustees, overseers,
directors, officers, employees, agents, subcontractors, successors and
assigns, for any and all liability and damages arising from the reproduction,
use or other disposition of the software. The User shall indemnify URA and
the U.S. Government for all damages, costs or expenses, including attorney's
fees, arising from the utilization of the software, including, but not limited
to, the making, using, selling or exporting of products, processes or services
derived from the Software. The User agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and
defend URA, its trustees, overseers, directors, officers, employees, agents,
subcontractors, successors and assigns, against any and all liability, damage,
loss, cost, charge, claim, demand, fee or expense of every nature and kind
which may at any time hereafter, be sustained by URA by reason of claims of
third parties arising out of alleged acts or omissions of the User in the
reproduction, use or other disposition of the Software.
The User agrees that URA, its trustees, overseers, directors, officers,
employees, agents, subcontractors, successors and assigns shall not be liable
under any claim, charge, or demand, whether in contract, tort, criminal law,
or otherwise, for any and all loss, cost, charge, claim, demand, fee, expense,
or damage of every nature and kind arising out of, connected with, resulting
from or sustained as a result of the use of the software programs available
from this server. In no event shall URA be liable for special, direct,
indirect or consequential damages, losses, costs, charges, claims, demands,
fees or expenses of any nature or kind.
Disclaimer of Warranties
------------------------
The software is provided on an "as is" basis only. URA makes no
representations, express or implied. URA MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, or
assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness,
or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or
represents that the Software will not infringe any privately held patent,
copyright, or trademark. The entire risk as to the results and the
performance of this software is assumed by the User.
Disclaimer of Endorsement
-------------------------
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by
tradename, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise, does not constitute or imply
its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government,
U.S. Department of Energy or URA. The views and opinions of individuals
expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United
States Government, U.S. Department of Energy or URA and shall not be used for
advertising or product endorsement purposes.
Liabilities of the Government
-----------------------------
This software is provided by URA, independent from its Prime Contract with the
U.S. Department of Energy. URA is acting independently from the Government
and in its own private capacity and is not acting on behalf of the U.S.
Government, nor as its contractor nor its agent. Correspondingly, it is
understood and agreed that the U.S. Government has no connection to this
software and in no manner whatsoever shall be liable for nor assume any
responsibility or obligation for any claim, cost, or damages arising out of or
resulting from the use of the software available from this server.
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