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Re: Summary : ocaml, QPL and the DFSG.



Matthew Palmer wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 20, 2004 at 12:32:53PM +0200, Bernhard R. Link wrote:
> [compelled unrelated distribution]
> 
>>For DFSG 5: What about the group of people that is in countries that 
>>impose an embargo or export restrictions on countries the "initial
>>developer" is in.
>>Consider something like a ssl-library was under this licence in the
>>times where those were more strictly handled and the "initial developer"
>>was outside the USA.
> 
> Ooh, good one.  That still applies, even -- if there's QPL'd software
> written by an Iranian, the requirement to distribute anything back to the
> original author on request totally screws you.  It's even worse, because you
> might reasonably think "well, the original author will never hear about my
> specially linked version, so it's OK", so you distribute to friends, who
> distribute to friends-of-friends, it gets back to the original author and he
> compels you by the terms of 6.c to distribute in contravention of the laws
> of your country.
> 
> The QPL is bad news in yet another way.  Do we need a DFSG basis for "forces
> people to break the law"?

That is indeed a marvelous example of how the QPL is non-free.  I'm
definitely putting that in my summary, with links to these two mails.
Thank you both.

I think between this and the DFSG1 "fee" argument, I can easily justify
the non-freeness of QPL 6c, and relegate the "dissident" and "desert
island" tests to a "for more information" footnote.

- Josh Triplett

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