Re: Clarification regarding PHP License and DFSG status
Thank you for the detailed response. My inquiry was directly related to
the fact that Joerg Jaspert had rejected the recent upload of the
Numbers_Words (packaged as php-numbers-words), Numbers_Roman
(php-numbers-roman) and Image_Color (php-image-color) PHP PEAR modules
which the acidbase (the forked ACID project BASE) package needs
available on the basis that the license "does not really fit the
package". I've also further noted he's filed a bug against php4-pear-log
for the same reason as it is licensed under the PHP license as well. I
have not checked further PEAR modules currently in the distributions.
I am simply attempting to clarify and settle this matter as I feel it
has potential reprecussions if not addressed properly.
Regards,
Jeremy
Steve Langasek wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 17, 2005 at 08:13:05PM -0700, Jeremy T. Bouse wrote:
>
>> I am inquiring further clarification on the PHP license (I'm
>>including v2.2 and v3.0) as to whether or not they qualify as DFSG. I
>>ask this as most all PEAR modules (similar to Perl's CPAN) appear to be
>>licensed under this license. I know it is listed with the Open Source
>>Initiative as an open source license but I've long since learned that
>>doesn't mean Debian accepts everything OSI does.
>
>
>> If a consensus on this could be reached it would be appreciated as
>>if PEAR modules licensed under the PHP license are non-DFSG that means
>>most, if not all, PEAR modules would be non-free at best and with many
>>PHP applications making use of PEAR modules would mean moving them from
>>main to contrib or non-free themselves.
>
>
> Yes, the PHP license is generally agreed to be DFSG-free. However, as
> previously discussed on debian-legal, it contains a number of clauses which
> make it inappropriate for use as a license on anything that *isn't* PHP
> itself.
>
>
>> 3. The name "PHP" must not be used to endorse or promote products
>> derived from this software without prior permission from the
>> PHP Group. This does not apply to add-on libraries or tools
>> that work in conjunction with PHP. In such a case the PHP
>> name may be used to indicate that the product supports PHP.
>
>
>> 3. The name "PHP" must not be used to endorse or promote products
>> derived from this software without prior written permission. For
>> written permission, please contact group@php.net.
>
>
> This is acceptable in a license for PHP; even though it's not great to try
> to shoehorn trademark concerns into a copyright license, DFSG4 permits this
> kind of clause. But it's not appropriate in a license clause on software
> that is *not* named "PHP".
>
>
>> 4. Products derived from this software may not be called "PHP", nor
>> may "PHP" appear in their name, without prior written permission
>> from group@php.net. You may indicate that your software works in
>> conjunction with PHP by saying "Foo for PHP" instead of calling
>> it "PHP Foo" or "phpfoo"
>
>
> (3.0 version of the license only)
> This is another pseudo-trademark clause, which in the case of PHP itself can
> be dealt with by a name change if necessary. It's out of scope for a
> DFSG-free license when such a clause is used for software that isn't PHP.
>
>
>> 5. Redistributions of any form whatsoever must retain the following
>> acknowledgment:
>> "This product includes PHP, freely available from
>> http://www.php.net/";.
>
>
>> 6. Redistributions of any form whatsoever must retain the following
>> acknowledgment:
>> "This product includes PHP, freely available from
>> <http://www.php.net/>".
>
>
> When the license is applied to things that aren't PHP, this clause requires
> us to lie. That's not a reasonable thing to ask in a free software license.
>
>
>> 6. The software incorporates the Zend Engine, a product of Zend
>> Technologies, Ltd. ("Zend"). The Zend Engine is licensed to the
>> PHP Association (pursuant to a grant from Zend that can be
>> found at http://www.php.net/license/ZendGrant/) for
>> distribution to you under this license agreement, only as a
>> part of PHP. In the event that you separate the Zend Engine
>> (or any portion thereof) from the rest of the software, or
>> modify the Zend Engine, or any portion thereof, your use of the
>> separated or modified Zend Engine software shall not be governed
>> by this license, and instead shall be governed by the license
>> set forth at http://www.zend.com/license/ZendLicense/.
>
>
> This is a lie on the part of the licensor, but otherwise is completely
> ignorable.
>
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