Re: Gnus Manual License
On Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:16:59 +0200, David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> said:
> Hubert Chan <hubert@uhoreg.ca> writes:
>> On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:09:15 +0200, David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> said:
>>
>>> Jérôme Marant <jerome@marant.org> writes:
>>>> I guess that not being able to rename or remove "A GNU Manual"
>>>> makes impossible to make a derivative manual.
>>
>>> Not at all. It just places a requirement on the form a derivative
>>> manual might take in the print.
>>
>> I cannot make a derivative manual that states on the cover that it is
>> "A GNU Manual" when it is, in fact, NOT a GNU manual.
> Since when? The line is not "I am a GNU Manual, and whoever says
> differently will get sued".
Huh? Are you saying that it's OK to publish some random manual, and
state on the cover that it is "A GNU Manual", when it is, in fact, NOT a
GNU manual? Is the FSF OK with this?
Independently of copyright law, there are generally laws against using
someone else's name to "endorse" your own product without their
permission.
>> The manual would make claims that are absolutely false, and which the
>> license prevents anyone from removing.
> You can easily say
> A GNU Manual
> Converted to a Microsoft share.
Yay. So we can have:
A GNU Manual
Except that now it's been adapted into the ZILE manual, and only chapter
28 has any relation to any GNU manual.
Actually, this is now a JOVE manual.
Published by IBM.
Err... make that Sun.
Well, this isn't actually technically a manual any more, per se. It's
more of a reference card now.
... ad infinitum ...
At least with the BSD advertising clause, you were never forced to state
something that was factually incorrect, requiring you to add useless
text in order to retract the falsehood.
> if you deem it necessary. And this requirement becomes active only on
> mass printed copies, anyway.
Like I've said before: dual license GPL/GFDL. If publishers can't/don't
want to comply with the GPL, then they can use the GFDL. And people who
don't care about printed copies can use the GPL.
--
Hubert Chan - email & Jabber: hubert@uhoreg.ca - http://www.uhoreg.ca/
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