Re: Freeware Public License (FPL)

[Ben Finney <bignose@debian.org>]

Jörg Frings-Fürst <debian@jff-webhosting.net> writes:

> a short question:  is this license DFSG compatible?

The DFSG does not apply to licen texts in isolation. It applies to works
for distribution in Debian. A particular license is only one aspect of
the work to consider.

> Freeware Public License (FPL)

Which work are we considering? Where can we see the work's complete
source code?

> This software is licensed as "freeware."

Note that “freeware” has an almost entirely unrelated meaning from
software freedom. It normally means “distributed for no fee”, which
is not an issue of software freedom.

> Permission to distribute this software in source and binary forms,
> including incorporation  into other products, is hereby granted
> without a fee.

This freedom (permission to redistribute) is necessary for software
freedom but is not sufficient; DFSG requires more than this (see the
DFSG for details).

Because no other DFSG freedoms are granted, those remain reserved to the
copyright holders.

So a work under this license would be non-free.

-- 
 \         “For a sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the |
  `\    luxury of an emotion without paying for it.” —Oscar Wilde, _De |
_o__)                                                 Profundis_, 1897 |
Ben Finney