Re: Squeak license questions.
On Tuesday 22 May 2001 8:18 pm, Walter Landry wrote:
> Well, the only really important part is clause 2, which reads in part
>
> 2. Permitted Uses and Restrictions. This License allows you to
> copy, install and use the Apple Software on an unlimited number of
> computers under your direct control. You may modify and create
> derivative works of the Apple Software ("Modified Software"),
> however, you may not modify or create derivative works of the fonts
> provided by Apple ("Fonts").
>
> This puts the fonts in non-free.
>
> You may distribute and sublicense such Modified Software only under
> the terms of a valid, binding license that makes no representations
> or warranties on behalf of Apple, and is no less protective of
> Apple and Apple's rights than this License. You may distribute and
> sublicense the Fonts only as a part of and for use with Modified
> Software, and not as a part of or for use
> with Modified Software that is distributed or sublicensed for a fee
> or for other valuable consideration.
>
> And this means that you can't distribute the fonts separately from
> the original package.
Okay, I understand why that is and I agree that this puts the whole
package in non-free (I can't see any way to seperate the fonts from the
rest of the package and still have it be at all usable)
>
> If the Modified Software contains
> modifications, overwrites, replacements, deletions, additions, or
> ports to new platforms of: (1) the methods of existing class
> objects or their existing relationships, or (2) any part of the
> virtual machine, then for so long as the Modified Software is
> distributed or sublicensed to others, such modified, overwritten,
> replaced, deleted, added and ported portions of the Modified Software
> must be made publicly available, preferably by means of download from
> a website, at no charge under the terms set forth in Exhibit A below.
>
> I think this puts the whole package in non-free. This precludes CD
> manufacturers from selling binary CD's and then providing the source
> on a separate CD that you have to pay a reasonable duplication fee
> for.
>
Doesn't this only apply if you modify any part of the class structure
or the VM? (neither of which I was planning to do. Such modifications
to the class structure would generally come as source anyway, that
being the nature of the beast.). So unless I was planning to inline
any changes (which I wasn't) then this doesn't apply so long as I
include a URL for where the full (non class structure) source can be
found.
[Squeak comes as 3 basic files and a few other bits and pieces like
documentation. One is the VM binary, one is the .image file
(essentailly the original class structure) and one is a .changes file,
which is pretty much a flatfile (not quite, but very nearly) which has
the source that you want to change/add. All the source for the whole
system is available from within the system and can be modified on the
fly. It is easy to then package any add-ons as seperate packages which
then depends on the original (these would not be very big and would
come as source which gets byte-compiled on first execution). I fail to
see why Apple have included this in their license...the nature of the
system is that the source for everything in it is available and
modifyable from within]
Thank you for your clarification on this matter - if I package it, it
goes in non-free due to fonts if nothing else, and I guess there is
nothing preventing it from being packaged (at least from this license).
I guess I now start talking to upstream and seeing if they
object/embrace the idea of it being packaged for Debian.
--
Stephen Stafford
GPG public key on request
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