Re: New CUPS license violates DFSG 6?
Scripsit Santiago Vila <sanvila@unex.es>
> > Software that is developed by any person or entity for an Apple
> > Operating System ("Apple OS-Developed Software"), including but not
> > limited to Apple and third party printer drivers, filters, and
> > backends for an Apple Operating System, that is linked to the CUPS
> > imaging library or based on any sample filters or backends provided
> > with CUPS shall not be considered to be a derivative work or
> > collective work based on the CUPS program and is exempt from the
> > mandatory source code release clauses of the GNU GPL.
> I agree that a license may exempt certain parties from some requirements,
> but not to the point of saying something which clearly is a derivative
> work is not (so I would say the wording should be improved here).
What they say is that "we (the upstream authors) promise to refrain
from claiming a copyright for ourselves on these kinds of derivations".
That is fine, and harms nobody.
Not that it does *not say* "if you add something to CUPS you may not
claim copyright for Apple software that is derived from your
additions". If they said that I'd say it bordered on being non-free
but that is not the case.
In the scenario
1. The upstream authors U create the original software C
2. I derive B from C.
3. Apple derives A from B.
the upshot of the clause would be that upstream won't consider A to be
a derived work from C. However I'll still be free to consider A to be
a derived work from B (in which I have a legal copyright interest) and
so insist that Apple follow the unamended GPL terms when they copy
derivates of my code.
> This means if we mix CUPS code under the new GPL+exception license and
> ordinary GPL code, the result may only be distributed under the
> unmodified GPL or not distributed at all,
True.
> which means you can't send CUPS maintainers a GPLed patch anymore...
Actually one can. But upstream cannot *use* that patch without also
leaving their Apple exception. Which is not Debian's problem. If the
case arises in practise (i.e. that some popular enhancement is only
available as a GPL-only patch), that just means that the project has
effectively forked, and Debian will have to chose which of the
branches we'll continue distributing.
--
Henning Makholm "Guldnålen er hvis man har en *bror* som er *datalog*."
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