Re: Handwaving licence
On Mon, Feb 12, 2001 at 01:16:07PM -0500, William T Wilson wrote:
> > > Please feel free to distribute it any way you want.
> > > However, it would be nice if you could leave a reference to my
> > > web site and email.
>
> Probably it isn't free because it doesn't expressly permit modification.
IANAL but that text clearly states "distribute it any way you want".
Indirect proof that modifications are permitted follows:
Temporarily assume that modifications are not allowed to be
distributed. We are given that it is permissible to distribute
the software in any way the distributor wants. Absent
modification, the package will be the same (Transitive property).
Since modifications are not permitted, there is only one way
to legally distribute the package, which is without as provided by
upstream. But this contradicts the fact that a distributor is
allowed to distribute the package in any desired way, since all
but one form of distribution (the upstream distribution) would be
the result of a modification. Therefore, our assumption is false
and modifications are allowed to be distributed. QED.
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