Re: [PHP4BETA] License concerns

[Rasmus Lerdorf <rasmus@raleigh.ibm.com>]

> Btw I have another concern with the PHP4 licence itself:
> 
>   4. The PHP Group reserves the right to modify the PHP license at
>      any time and without prior notice, as long as the changes keep
>          the free and open source nature of PHP.
> 
> does this mean rectroactively changing the license of already distributed
> copies of the software ? If yes, then it may clash with the open source
> definition (I'm expecting comments here from people who know DFSG issues
> more than me), if not, then this paragraph is not needed, since the
> copyright holder can change the license anyway.

This is not an attempt to be able to retroactively change the license.  My
view of this is that once a piece of software has been released under a
certain license you can't go back and change it.  This clause is an
attempt to be able to make minor license tweaks without having to get
approval from every one of the hundreds of people that have contributed to
PHP.  The wording may not be appropriate though.

-Rasmus