How might I convince my school not to use this product?
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My school is looking into installing Stanford's Coursework application for
managing online course sites:
http://getcoursework.stanford.edu/index.html
However, its license seems to be decidedly non-free, and I'm trying to
convince my school not to use it. This is for the following reasons:
1.) It requires Sun's JRE
2.) It requires Oracle, and has limited support for Free alternatives
(experimental support for Postgre only)
3.) Its license (http://getcoursework.stanford.edu/license.html) is
prohibitive
> Open Source License
>
> CourseWork
> Copyright © 2004 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
> License Agreement
>
> By obtaining and/or copying the application or source code for CourseWork,
you agree that you have read, understand, and will comply with the following
terms and conditions of the License.
>
> Title and copyright in CourseWork and any associated documentation will at
all times remain with the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior
University (Stanford). Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement,
Stanford hereby grants to any person obtaining a copy of CourseWork a
nonexclusive, royalty-free license under only any copyright interest Stanford
has in CourseWork to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, perform and/or
distribute copies of CourseWork, and to permit persons to whom CourseWork is
furnished to do so.
Doesn't say anything about distributing derivative works - one has the right
to create them, but not to distribute them. In addition, doesn't specify
that derivative works have the same license applied.
> CourseWork may not be distributed in any form for a fee.
Clearly not Free, since it doesn't allow charging for the time/media for
making a copy
>
> Distributions of CourseWork in source code and/or executable form must
retain all copyright notices in the Software as furnished by the Licensor,
this list of conditions, and the following disclaimers in the code,
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
>
> Neither the names of Stanford, nor the names of any contributors to
CourseWork, nor any of their trademarks or service marks, may be used to
endorse or promote products derived from this Software without express prior
written permission of Stanford.
I forget whether this is permissible for DFSG-free.
> Except for the license granted you under Stanford's copyright interest in
CourseWork, Stanford retains all right, title and interest in CourseWork and
any intellectual property rights in CourseWork. Without limiting the
foregoing, no license is granted you or any other party under any patent
owned or held by Stanford.
In other words, all your modifications are belong to Stanford. Wonderful.
> COURSEWORK IS PROVIDED AS IS AND WITH ALL FAULTS. THERE IS NO WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. ALL WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING OUT OF A
PARTICULAR COURSE OF DEALING. YOUR USE OF THE SOFTWARE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, RELATING TO,
ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH SOFTWARE OR ANY USE OF THE SOFTWARE.
>
> CourseWork is provided under the terms of this license without support, and
with no commitments stated or implied, for technical assistance, modification
or upgrade from the Licensor.
Standard no warranty stuff
Any suggestions? Alternatives I might suggest?
Elizabeth Fong
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