Re: Copyright from the lcs-projekt!? [dwarf@polaris.net: Re: First cut at testing and validation]

[David Welton <davidw@gate.cks.com>]

On Thu, Aug 13, 1998 at 02:14:08AM +0100, Philip Hands wrote:
> > Any modification of the code creates a different standard, defeating the
> > whole purpose of the standard. Copyright produces an identity for the item
> > under copyright that can not be smudged in this fashion without smudging
> > that identity. The standard needs its own identity in a fashion that
> > cannot be smudged into non-existance.
> 
> Are you saying that the code _is_ the standard ?
> 
> If that's the case I can see your point.

I guess, it is so little code that the discussion really is centered
more on principle than on anything else.
 
Why not just put in a clause to the effect of:

If you modify this code, even one teency tincy char, you must call it
somethign else, and prominently display the fact that it is not, nor
has any bearing whatsoever on the standard.

I think this is what we more or less agreed on for the 'free
documentation' discussion.  It allows people to reuse standards, docs,
or whatever, just as long as it is *obvious* that they do not, infact,
represent whatever standard it is.

Of course, in this specific case, the point is mostly moot, but,
immagine the code as a big, long C program.  Are you still comfortable
making it immutable?   

-- 
David Welton                          http://www.efn.org/~davidw 

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