Re: Licensing Question

[bruce@perens.com]

From: Brent Fulgham <bfulgham@xpsystems.com>
> The only concern they have is over patented technology in their product.  I
> don't know from their e-mail if they are referring to their own technology,
> or to technology they license from someone else.

Patents, both the Contributors and those of third parties, are dealt with in
several existing licenses, the IBM PSL, APSL, NPL, MPL, and GPL. Please suggest
they look over the patent-related language of those licenses.

Could it be that your friends are a bit confused and they think they can't
release source for patented technology and retain their patent rights?
They should look at how other companies have released free software while
retaining their patent rights - starting with the licenses mentioned above.
As long as they have filed for their patents, it's OK to release the source,
and they can license their patents for use with software under one of the
free software licenses only. If they haven't filed for their patents, they
should not release even a binary to anyone who is not under NDA.

> 3.  They free everything and it goes in main.

I don't see why not if they are only concerned about patents.

	Thanks

	Bruce