Re: One unclear point in the Vim license
Richard -
> That only talks about unmodified executables. So nothing seems
> to give permission for distributing executables of modified
> versions of Vim. It is important to give that permission
> explicitly.
It was given implicitly, but I can clear that up to avoid confusion.
> It seems you started with a slightly older version of the license.
>
> Yes, that seems to be true.
>
> I took the new license that you sent me and clarified some of the words.
> The changes are not large.
>
> One change is that I deleted the statement about the license for the
> documentation. That's because the license for the documentation
> should be stated in the documentation itself, not here.
This is also noted in the documentation. Well, this text is actually
part of the documentation as well. I wanted to put a link here, so that
people that look for help on copyright can find the text they are
looking for.
> Another change is in the first paragraph of the license details.
> I stated explicitly that executables made from modified sources are ok
> to distribute.
I find that a bit confusing, because the first paragraph is about
unrestricted distribution. I rather keep the text about unrestricted
distribution separate from the text about distribution of a modified
version. Not everybody reads the text that careful, I want to avoid it
being misinterpreted. Also for people who can't read English that well.
> Another very simple change is in the second paragraph: I replaced "it"
> with "a copy of the modified version you distributed". This is to
> eliminate any chance of misunderstanding.
>
> The final change was in the last sentence, also to eliminate any
> chance of misunderstanding.
>
> What do you think of these suggestions?
I have used them to update the text. This is the result (just the first
two paragraphs, the rest didn't change):
============================
There are no restrictions on distributing unmodified copies of Vim. You can
also distibute parts of Vim, but this license text must always be included.
You are allowed to include executables that you made from the unmodified Vim
sources, plus your own usage examples and Vim scripts.
It is allowed to distribute a modified version of Vim, with executables
and/or source code, when the following conditions are met. If you distribute
a modified version of Vim, you are encouraged to make it available to the
maintainer, including the source code. When the maintainer asks (in any way)
for a copy of the modified version you distributed, you must make your
changes, including source code, available to him. The preferred way to do
this is by e-mail or by uploading the files to a server and e-mailing the URL.
If the number of changes is small (e.g., a modified Makefile) e-mailing the
diffs will do. The e-mail address to be used is <maintainer@vim.org>
============================
- Bram
--
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"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" PYTHON (MONTY) PICTURES LTD
/// Bram Moolenaar -- Bram@moolenaar.net -- http://www.moolenaar.net \\\
((( Creator of Vim -- http://vim.sf.net -- ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim )))
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