On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 00:59:54 -0400 Brian Thomas Sniffen wrote:
> Well, yes, but if I offer you the MS Visual C++ source code to package
> for Debian, and I tell you I'll give it to you under the GPL, you'll
> turn me down. Even though I give the relevant permissions, and it's
> the copyright holder that does not.
I'm not convinced that this is an equivalent situation...
I could be misleaded by my opinion that software patents are an abuse
and should not exist in the first place, but anyway I'll try and clarify
what my position is.
If you offer me the MS Visual C++ source code under the GNU GPL license,
*you* are doing something you cannot legally do. You are not the
copyright holder: the real copyright holder didn't give you permission
to distribute under the GNU GPL.
IIUC, you are arguing that, similarly, ASF cannot give me permission to
use Apache to implement one-click shopping, because ASF is not the
patent holder and the real patent holder didn't give ASF permission to
grant a patent license...
But Apache is not a program that implements one-click shopping, so it's
not covered by that software patent, per se.
Of course, it *can* be used as a component in a system that implements
one-click shopping. But that is entirely different.
In other words, that patent is unrelated to Apache.
The MS Visual C++ copyright is instead very much related to MS Visual
C++ (of course).
The Freeness of MS Visual C++ is indeed affected by the permissions
granted by its copyright holder and by any holder of patents that are
*involved* in VC++ itself.
The Freeness of Apache is affected by the permissions granted by its
copyright holder and by any holder of patents that are *involved* in
Apache itself (and one-click shopping is not, AFAIK).
Apache is Free, even if no one issued a free patent license for
one-click shopping.
It cannot be used to implement one-click shopping for external reasons.
It cannot even be used to murder people, again for external reasons:
that does not mean it isn't Free (actually this doesn't violate DFSG 6)
I hope I clarified what I meant.
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