Re: Swiss Ephemeris Public License
Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org>:
> > > b. If modifications to the SE are released under this
> > > license, a non-exclusive right is granted to the holder of the
> > > copyright of the unmodified SE to distribute your
> > > modification in future versions of the SE provided such
> > > versions remain available under these terms in addition to any
> > > other license.
> >
> > I recall that we recently discussed whether such clauses are
> > sufficiently discriminating to fail the implicit "with no
> > consideration to the author" test of the DFSG. It eludes me what we
> > concluded, however.
>
> I personally consider that non-DFSG-free, under the theory that in
> general, "your modifications" have pecuniary value, and you are
> compelled to license your valuable modifications to the copyright holder
> under terms other than those under which you are licensing them to the
> community.
What stops you from licensing your valuable modifications under a
BSD-like licence so that everyone has them under the same terms?
> Therefore, I see no fundamental difference between this clause and one
> which insists that all modifiers pay a license fee to the copyright
> holder. Both cash and copyrightable modifications have pecuniary value.
>
> Consequently, in my view, this clause fails the "freely modifiable"
> requirement of the FSF's definition of "Free Software".
Would you feel the same way about a licence that said that all
modifications must be public-domain or BSD-licensed?
What about a copyleft licence that grants the DFSG-freedoms but gives
additional permissions to Jehova's Witnesses (who happen to come to
mind as they turned up at my door as I was typing this)?
Edmund
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