On Fri, Aug 22, 2003 at 06:39:47AM +0000, Brian M. Carlson wrote: > Copyright (C) 1984, Sun Microsystems, Inc. > > Sun RPC is a product of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and is > provided for unrestricted use provided that this legend is > included on all tape media and as a part of the software > program in whole or part. Uh, *all* tape media? Is that all tape media in the world, including that which I don't own? If it's the tape media I own, do I have to put this "legend" even on tape media that do not contain anything copyrighted by Sun Microsystems? I *assume* that this restriction is not meant to be construed more broadly than copyright law will permit. If it is meant to impact things that have nothing to do with the code, then this flagrantly violates DFSG 9. Furthermore, does "on all tape media" mean physically marked on the tape cartridge, or merely present electromagnetically, probably encoded as data? If the former, it's at least as onerous as the BSD advertising clause. If the latter, I don't think it's a problem. > Users may copy or modify Sun RPC > without charge, but are not authorized to license or > distribute it to anyone else except as part of a product or > program developed by the user. This violates DFSG 1 and arguably DFSG 5. It might skate through DFSG 1's backwards-bent wording if the sentence stopped at "part of a product or program". But it doesn't stop there. You can't redistribute this code unless you develop with it. This requires distributors to be software developers, not ordinary joes who've never written a line of code in their lives. > SUN RPC IS PROVIDED AS IS WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND > INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTIBILITY AND > FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF > DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE PRACTICE. Okay. > Sun RPC is provided with no support and without any > obligation on the part of Sun Microsystems, Inc. to assist in > its use, correction, modification or enhancement. Okay. > SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT > TO THE INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHTS, TRADE SECRETS OR ANY > PATENTS BY SUN RPC OR ANY PART THEREOF. Okay. > In no event will Sun Microsystems, Inc. be liable for any > lost revenue or profits or other special, indirect and > consequential damages, even if Sun has been advised of the > possibility of such damages. Okay. For reference: 1. Free Redistribution The license of a Debian component may not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license may not require a royalty or other fee for such sale. 5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. 9. License Must Not Contaminate Other Software The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be free software. -- G. Branden Robinson | I had thought very carefully about Debian GNU/Linux | committing hara-kiri over this, but branden@debian.org | I overslept this morning. http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | -- Toshio Yamaguchi
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