Re: the ncurses "brushfire" -- anybody want to take over the project?
"Eric S. Raymond" <esr@snark.thyrsus.com> writes:
> Michael Alan Dorman wrote:
> >ESR has, IMHO, decided to start a pissing match about ncurses
> >development. I have no desire to participate or watch.
> Mr. Dorman's opinion is understandable but mistaken.
Although I feel a deep and abiding disgust at Mr. Daniels' actions,
the mistake of posting something to email in a moment of frustration
was entirely mine. Mea Culpa. I apologize.
And although I would offer, in my defense, that my opinion also grew
out of an unfortunate and foolish ignorance of the specific copyright
on ncurses, I nevertheless apologize for my words.
Mind you, I *still* think that you're rhetoric is excessively
inflammatory.
> I am currently seeking a solution that will take the hijacked
> sources out of Thomas Dickey's hands. I am willing to assign my
> rights to a trustworthy third party, and Zeyd has agreed to second
> any actions I deem necessary.
However now that I *have* done what I should have done two years ago
and familiarized myself with the license, I think that there is a
significant problem with the ncurses license as it stands---in that it
does not guarantee anyone the right to distribute modified versions.
Without this guarantee, written into the license, Debian cannot use
ncurses. And even if you were to grant us special dispensation, our
informal charter would forbid us using ncurses as the base of our
product---it would be, at best, a compatability library.
And you have, I believe, stated that you are unwilling to see ncurses
released with a license that guarantees redistribution or modified
versions at this time.
How do we resolve this issue?
Mike.
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