Re: DRAFT: debian-legal summary of the QPL
On Sun, Jul 11, 2004 at 11:33:56PM -0400, Nathanael Nerode wrote:
> Agreed. Personally, I think it's implicit in DFSG 6; it discriminates
> against the field of making modifications to the program, by forcing them
> to be distributed before their authors are ready.
We've had that discussion before, though: DFSG#6 is impossible to use in
this way without it quickly spiraling into absurdity. ("The BSD license
discriminates against the field of using the name of the University to
endorse products without prior permission", or whatever.) It's a stick
that can be used against *any* restriction.
I believe the more reliable DFSG#3 is to the point. It requires the
right to make derived works--any derived works, not "derived works,
as long as you're willing to give the initial developer a copy".
I'm still unsure about the reading of QPL#6. It seems like it really says
"if you link this code against another work, you must give the initial
developer a copy of that separate work on request", but what little I
know of the intent of the QPL suggests I'm misinterpreting it.
If not, then it seems like it's a poorly-executed version of the GPL's
"apply restrictions to linked works by treating the result as a combined
work", and DFSG#3 also applies. (Taken at face value, it's also license
contamination, DFSG#9.)
--
Glenn Maynard
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