Re: Debian License agreement

[Ben Finney <bignose+hates-spam@benfinney.id.au>]

Vsevolod Krishchenko <crpg@aha.ru> writes:

> On Sunday 25 March 2007 00:21, Steve Langasek wrote:
>
> > There is no EULA for Debian because an EULA is a license which
> > *restricts* what the user is allowed to do with his own copy of
> > the software.  We place no restrictions on the use of the software
> > and require that our upstreams don't do so either, so an EULA does
> > not apply here.

>   Why EULA cannot be as this: "User is legally free to copy, modify,
> share and redistribute this Software on any number of computers."

That's the Debian Free Software Guidelines.

    <URL:http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines>

All software in Debian ("software in Debian" == "software in main") is
licensed such that it satisfies those guidelines, or has a
release-critical bug which must be resolved somewhow.

We don't have an EULA, because there is no definite point where
"agreement" is obtained from the recipient of Debian. We *do* have a
grant of license on all works in Debian, which we extend to all
recipients of Debian. The licenses on works in Debian all allow us to
do so, otherwise they don't meet the DFSG.

Those looking for an EULA should be satisfied with the *even more
permissive* grant of license, which is unidirectional. It requires no
"agreement" from the recipient: they get the license (i.e. freedom of
action) granted to them regardless.

-- 
 \         "What you have become is the price you paid to get what you |
  `\                              used to want."  -- Mignon McLaughlin |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney