On Thu, 2003-09-11 at 17:59, Branden Robinson wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 11, 2003 at 12:49:06AM -0500, Joe Wreschnig wrote:
> > On Tue, 2003-09-09 at 14:49, Mathieu Roy wrote:
> > > I would say that the LPPL is not equal. Because it requires you to
> > > change the name of the files you modify and that's a direct problem
> > > when using LaTeX.
> >
> > Actually, one of the reasons this was considered "acceptable" by many,
> > is because it's *not* a direct problem using LaTeX. LaTeX has convenient
> > ways to map resource names that other languages do not, or that was what
> > I gathered from the discussion. It is, however, a direct problem in many
> > other programming environments.
>
> I feel compelled to point out that the fact that the restriction was
> less odious for LaTeX specifically did not render it DFSG-free
> ("acceptable"?) in my view.
Interestingly enough, the FSF does *not* share your opinion. From
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html:
"[The LaTeX Project Public License] contains complex and annoying
restrictions on how to publish a modified version, including one
requirement that falls just barely on the good side of the line of what
is acceptable: that any modified file must have a new name.
The reason this requirement is acceptable for LaTeX is that LaTeX has a
facility to allow you to map file names, to specify ``use file bar when
file foo is requested''. With this facility, the requirement is merely
annoying; without the facility, the same requirement would be a serious
obstacle, and we would have to conclude it makes the program non-free."
The last sentence reads to me like the FSF is saying that a severe
enough practical problem *does* make a license non-free, despite RMS
claiming (but not explaining) directly the opposite earlier.
(Personally, I also considered the renaming-required LPPL versions
non-free. Evaluating whether a license is free or not based on the
specific program licensed under it is stupid.)
--
Joe Wreschnig <piman@sacredchao.net>
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