Re: ARRL's LoTW with Debian Sarge
On Tue, Sep 23, 2003 at 04:33:09PM +0200, Joop Stakenborg wrote:
> Yes, they are distributing source code. However, the license is not GPL,
> but might be DFSG-free. There is some talk in the license about
> redistribution and product derivation which sounds feasible, but I am
> not sure about point 4, 5 and 6 in the license:
>
> 4. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
> must display the following acknowledgment: "This product includes
> software developed by the American Radio Relay League, Incorporated for
> use in the ARRL Logbook of the World project."
>
>
> So, do we need to include this in the package desciption, which
> eventually will apear on the debian package web site (which will
> advertise LoTW)?
Sounds like the original BSD license. Something that FSF considers to
be Free, GPL-incompatible and obnoxious.
> 5. Products derived from or including this software may not use "Logbook
> of the World" or "LoTW" or any other American Radio Relay League,
> Incorporated trademarks or servicemarks in their names without prior
> written permission of the ARRL.
>
>
> Does this mean I cannot mention LoTW when I link a program against the
> lotw libraries when developing an application?
Sounds like it.
> 6. Use of this software does not imply endorsement by ARRL of products
> derived from or including this software and vendors may not claim such
> endorsement.
>
>
> My english knowledge fails me here, what do they mean by this?
NO WARRANTY
If you write a program based on it then ARRL won't endorse it, so they
won't say it is good or you should use it.
> Good Luck with this package, I am looking forward to it. You might want
> to get some advise on debian-legal....
I'd agree with doing that.
Good to see the ARRL keeping up the fine tradition of having bad
licenses for hamradio-related software. Without looking at it too
closely my opinion is the license sucks hard but is borderline Free,
I could of easily missed something.
- Craig
--
Craig Small GnuPG:1C1B D893 1418 2AF4 45EE 95CB C76C E5AC 12CA DFA5
Eye-Net Consulting http://www.enc.com.au/ MIEE Debian developer
csmall at : enc.com.au ieee.org debian.org
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