Re: Debian's "Modify & Redistribute" Policy (was: the ncurses "brushfire")

[Brian White <bcwhite@verisim.com>]

> > That depends on how you look at it.
> >
> > If the author does not do significant maintenence or has abandoned the
> > package then this is true.
> 
> What if the author doesn't want you to do ports? We have one case of
> this already. We also have some cases of "author rudely dropped dead
> without first changing the copyright".

This is a problem, I admit.  What does the law say about copyrighted works
when the copyright holder dies?


> > On the other hand, if the author is active, then forcing changes to go
> > back through the orgininal author means that fixes and improvements don't
> > get limited to a small subset of the user community.  In this way, the
> > restriction actually _improves_ the overall quality of the product for
> > everyone.
> 
> I think that feeding changes back to the author is a separate issue, and
> one that we've already promised to do.

But your promise in not the point.  The author wants this promise from
everybody.  It's the best way to be assured that improvements get
distributed to everyone and not just a select group.

                                          Brian
                                 ( bcwhite@verisim.com )

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Seize the moment!  Live now.  Make "now" always the most important time. -- JLP


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