Re: Bug#284190: ITP: drdsl -- DSL Assistant for AVM DSL/ISDN-Controllers

[Matthias Klose <doko@cs.tu-berlin.de>]

Josh Triplett writes:
> Matthias Klose wrote:
> > CC'ing debian-legal, please could you have a look at the license?
> 
> The question being "is this acceptable to go into non-free"?

exactly.

[...]
> Up to this point, the license seems acceptable for non-free; it seems to
> permit redistribution of the binary-only portion, and the LGPLed portion
> is of course acceptable.  However:
> 
> > The Proprietary Source Software, which is delivered in object code format
> > only, such as the ".o files", shall in no event be disassembled, reverse
> > engineered, decompiled or otherwise "be opened" and the results realised
> > insofar shall not be copied or distributed without the prior written
> > approval of AVM except to the extent as may be expressly authorized under
> > mandatory law.
> 
> This condition is incompatible with the GNU LGPL.  Clause 6 of the LGPL
> states in part:
> >   6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also combine or
> > link a "work that uses the Library" with the Library to produce a
> > work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work
> > under terms of your choice, provided that the terms permit
> > modification of the work for the customer's own use and reverse
> > engineering for debugging such modifications.
> 
> It goes on to state that distributing object code for relinking is
> acceptable, as AVM does.  However, the license on the work as a whole,
> including the .o files, does not "permit modification of the work for
> the customer's own use and reverse engineering for debugging such
> modifications".
> 
> The result is that neither the .o files which link to the library nor
> any compiled binary from both the .o files and the library can be
> distributed.

I asked to clarify the paragraph, the current text now has append "and
the terms of the LGPL".

"The Proprietary Source Software, which is delivered in object code
format only, such as the ".o files", shall in no event be
disassembled, reverse engineered, decompiled or otherwise "be opened"
and the results realised insofar shall not be copied or distributed
without the prior written approval of AVM except to the extent as may
be expressly authorized under mandatory law and the terms of the LGPL."