Re: Is this a free license?
On Thu, Dec 12, 2002 at 02:58:14PM -0800, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote:
> Jim Penny <jpenny@debian.org> writes:
>
> > 1) it appears not to allow modification of the file. The only
> > operation permitted is "extraction".
>
> Both Sam Hartman and I agreed that while modification might not be
> permitted, distribution of patch files for the purpose of effective
> modification *is* easily possible for any program that reads the
> file. So this is not a problem for distributing the verbatim file in
> Debian.
>
> > 2) while "extraction" is permitted, no explicit right to redistribute
> > the extracted (derived) information is granted.
>
> You can *use* the extracted information in "documentation or
> programs", and I think in context it's clear that this use is intended
> to allow even Microsoft to distribute the program without license, and
> certainly therefore a free program.
>
> > Note: I have no interest in whether DSFG compatible programs can be
> > created using this data. Clearly, they can. Is a file under this
> > license, or a file mechanically derived from such a file DSFG free?
>
> In the case of the Unicode data file, yes. There is no need to decide
> such a question in a hypothetical case.
>
> Thomas
>
So, does that not make qmail free? There is no problem in distributing
the unchanged tarball, and we are, after all, simply distributing a
patchset that modifies it to support FHS.
More and More Puzzledly Yours.
Jim Penny
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