clone 248853 -1
retitle -1 ftp.debian.org: please remove un-redistributable 3270 package from the archive
reassign -1 ftp.debian.org
thanks
Given that the package maintainer has taken no visible action on this in
over 4 months, I recommend removing this package from Debian's FTP archives
so as to reduce our potential liability for copyright infringements.
Archive admins: in a nutshell, there is code copyrighted by the Minolta
corporation in the 3270 package for which there is no statement of license.
For reference, the affected code appears to be:
[apt-get source package, cd into its directory, and run "./debian/rules
unpack".]
c3270-3.3/kybd.c:FieldExit_action() [1]
c3270-3.3/X3270.xad: apparently lines 733 to 763, inclusive [2]
s3270-3.3/kybd.c:FieldExit_action() [1]
tcl3270-3.3/kybd.c:FieldExit_action() [1]
x3270-3.3/kybd.c:FieldExit_action() [1]
All in all, it's a pretty small amount of material that falls under this
problematic copyright, but if the package maintainer doesn't feel it's
important to rectify the issue -- for instance, by asking for assistance
in clean-room reimplementing the affected portion -- then that's his
prerogative, and the package should be removed.
Thanks for your time.
On Tue, Aug 10, 2004 at 12:33:22AM -0400, Nathanael Nerode wrote:
> In case anyone was wondering, this is far from cleared up. :-(
[...]
> Beat Rubischon has sent a nice message apparently granting permission to
> use his code under "any license" as long as his name is preserved
> (earlier in the bug trail) -- so for anything copyrighted by him, we're OK.
>
> *UN*fortunately he apparently isn't the sole copyright holder of the
> 5250 code. Permission would be needed from Minolta, and I seriously
> doubt he has the right to speak for them, even though he's an employee.
> I doubt he wants to go to the trouble of clearing this with Minolta's
> legal department. :-(
[1] A C function of 39 lines.
[2] This is simply an Xt event translation table. It contains basic
mappings from Xt event names to Xt actions, some of which appear to be
stock and some of which are registered by the code. I'm not sure this
is copyrightable.
--
G. Branden Robinson | Good judgement comes from
Debian GNU/Linux | experience; experience comes from
branden@debian.org | bad judgement.
http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | -- Fred Brooks
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