Re: OSD && DFSG convergence
Russell Nelson <nelson@crynwr.com> writes:
> Thomas Bushnell, BSG writes:
> > Right. That's for licenses which are contractual. Free software
> > licenses are unilateral grants of permission, for which it is
> > unimportant to certify acceptance.
>
> Then why do they disclaim warranties? You can't disclaim a warranty
> without forming a contract, and yet every free software license
> disclaims warranty.
That's not true. Many times a warranty can be disclaimed without a
contract. You might think no warranty can attach without a contract,
but alas, some legislatures and courts have decided that some
warranties attach in the absence of any kind of contract. Sometimes,
you are allowed to unilaterally disclaim those warranties, and that's
what the warranty disclaimer is for.
> > If they don't accept, fine! They don't accept--and then they are
> > restricted by the copyright law (NOT by the license) and any further
> > copying is then illegal.
>
> A warranty disclaimer is binding on the user of the software. It has
> nothing to do with copying the software.
Huh? Binding? What does the warranty disclaimer bind them to do?
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