Re: reiser4 non-free?
I just modified the Reiser4 license to be the following:
The Anti-Plagiarism License
Pre-amble:
At the time of writing (2004), distros commonly remove, diminish, or obscure
the credits of original authors from many programs so as to ensure that the
user has brand awareness primarily of the distro. They have a strong
marketing incentive to do so, and there is no shame shown by them in the
act.
This is a very real problem which has already affected many programs
(e.g. KDE, ReiserFS, many others). Western academia has a strong
tradition of
opposing plagiarism, and there are good societal reasons for ensuring that
persons are known for what they have done with precision. Individual users
don't benefit as significantly from knowing who produced their software, and
so one cannot say that there is a market demand for better credits that is
sufficient to overpower the desire of the distros to be the only source
users
know of to turn to for all their needs. While individuals may not be well
motivated to ensure prominent and full crediting, society as a whole is.
Crediting is a powerful incentive to produce good works, and many have
written
about the power of fame as a motivator for producing free software. Society
needs accuracy in its recognition of its contributors.
The License: The Anti-plagiarism license is the Gnu Public License Version 2
with the following modification: you may not modify, remove, or obscure any
credits in the software unless your modification causes those credits to
remain
equally prominent and to retain their wording. You are not required to
display
the credits if the computer has no effective display mechanism, or if
you do not
distribute the software to others.
FAQ:
Q: Will this license lead to ads?
A: No, credits describe the contribution made to a project. Ads describe a
product someone wants you to buy. Ads are not the same as credits, and their
preservation is not protected by this license.
Q: Can we the distro preserve the credits but send the credits to /dev/null.
A: No. How can you even ask such a question?
Q: Can I change the font? Can I move the credits to a different moment
in the
user interaction to suit my installer?
A: Yes, if you make sure the credits make an equally effective/frequent
impression on the user. If you have doubts about whether your changes are
fair, be courteous and ask the author and you'll find that most authors are
reasonable.
Q: What in this license prevents persons from making their name display
excessively annoyingly throughout the running of the program? Isn't that a
flaw in the license?
A: The shovel doesn't stop the digger from creating a pit in the road that
endangers other people. The license is a tool. Whether you make an ass out
of yourself using it on the software you write is up to you. No compiler
makes
broken programs work....
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