Re: Linux mark extortion
On Sat, Jun 18, 2005 at 01:40:17AM -0400, Stephen Frost wrote:
> What's the scenario you're concerned about here? Someone taking Debian
> and distributing it as "MyLinux" and Debian not protecting that use
> somehow?
Debian certainly cares about the terms under which Debian can be reused;
this is one. As far as impressions go, it certainly feels non-free that
I can't take "Debian GNU/Linux", fork and rename it to "Glenn GNU/Linux"
and sell it. My impression would possibly be different this wasn't being
applied retroactively, after Linux was usable with no restrictions for
years; it feels in the same boat as the Pine licensing mess, where UW
retroactively "un-freed" Pine. If "Linux" had these terms to begin with,
people would probably have used a different name; we're stuck with it
now, and suddenly we have to pay for it. It feels like we've been bait-
and-switched.
(I'm not entirely decided on the issue, applied non-retroactively: the
Apache v1 "may not be named *Apache*" terms are considered Free, but
this feels far more wide-reaching. In any event, I'm having a hard time
seeing anything but undisguised hypocrasy on Linus's part here; as much
distaste as I have for making such a conclusion, I can't seem to find
any other ...)
--
Glenn Maynard
Reply to: