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Re: PHP License for PHP Group packages



On Thu, Feb 16, 2006 at 12:06:29AM +0100, Francesco Poli wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 02:19:10 -0800 Steve Langasek wrote:

> Moreover, while revising the license, I rediscovered another problem
> that has been neglected in recent discussions:

> | 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.

> The usual no-endorsement clause that we consider acceptable in BSD
> licenses and the like is different, because it talks about the name of
> the copyright holder or contributors, not about the name of the original
> work[1].

Why is that an important difference, in terms of freeness?

> Clause #3 of the PHP License v3.01 forbids promoting derivative works
> with sentences like "This product is based on PHP" or "This product is a
> modified version of the famous PHP scripting language interpreter",
> which are true and do not harm the PHP Group, AFAICS.

I'm not sure this is a correct reading of "endorse or promote".  "This
product is based on PHP" is a factual statement, and implies no endorsement
or promotion by the PHP Group.  In contrast, saying "supported by PHP" or
"works with PHP" implies an endorsement.

I agree that it's confusing to talk about "endorsement" by PHP when the name
"PHP" alone refers only to software, not to a person or group.  So that's a
silly bug, but I'm not convinced it's a fatal one here.

-- 
Steve Langasek                   Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer                   to set it on, and I can move the world.
vorlon@debian.org                                   http://www.debian.org/

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