[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: python-imaging



On Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:21:48 +1100
Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> wrote:

> Jonathan Bastien-Filiatrault <joe@x2a.org> writes:
> 
> > Ben Finney wrote:
> > > Greg Harris <glharris@panix.com> writes:
> > 
> > [snip]
> > >
> > > But that wording is *not* what has been used for ‘python-imaging’.
> > > Instead, the wording is:
> > >
> > >     Permission to [foo] for any purpose and without fee is hereby
> > >     granted,
> > >
> > I find that wording rather ambiguous, in my mind it could mean any
> > of the following:
> > 
> >  * You may [foo] for any purpose, without paying a fee
> >  * You may [foo] for any purpose, as long as you do so without fee
> > 
> > Does anyone else see this ambiguity ?
> 
> I can see how someone might find it if they were looking for it.
> 
> I don't see it when I read the clause normally. The meaning of that
> clause, to me, is clearly:
> 
>   * You may [foo] for any purpose and without charging a fee
> 
A license normally will contain a term that specifies the fee due from
the licensee to the licensor. In the absence of any other clause (and I
don't recall one here) that states such a term, "without fee" should
be read as referring to the cost of the license that is granted and not
as a limitation on licensed right to [foo]. 

If you are looking for something else, I guess you could extract it. As
one of my professors liked to say, it is very easy to write what you
mean, but what is extremely hard is to write something that cannot mean
anything else.


Reply to: