Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:31:46 -0800 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com> To: Licia <licia@o-o.org> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: reviewers for a free software license Message-ID: <61961.919737106@zippy.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 22 Feb 1999 14:49:42 CST." <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902221445460.19928-100000@o-o.org>
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> Would anyone care to review a software license I and a friend are working on?
> The goal is to present the basic ideas in a berkeley style license in a
> simple text file that people can simple include with their work or refer
> to by name/url the way they can with the GPL and Artistic licenses.
I like the basic idea of encapsulating the sentiments of the berkeley
license in a "simple text file", however I don't see one of those
here. :-)
My definition of a simple text file which conveyed the "basic ideas"
of the BSDL would be:
The Universal Simple License
----------------------------
The following materials are copyright (C) Joe Blow, 1999 and may be
used, modified and redistributed in any form for any purpose provided
that the following provisions are strictly adhered to:
Do not remove or modify the text of this license agreement
or attempt to assert authorship for unmodified portions of
the code. The author is giving you the code, grant them at
least due credit for it in return.
The author assumes no liability whatsoever for this code. You
break it, you fix it, and what you see here you use entirely at
your own risk.
That's 97 words, including "(C) Joe Blow, 1999", text which would
obviously get longer if you covered more years or shorter if your name
was something like "Prince." A license in 100 words or less is the
kind of license I like to see!
For a rather more extreme example of this, those of you who keep track
of such things may also have noticed the "license" I very deliberately
used for the ports collection mechanism itself (in bsd.port.mk):
# bsd.port.mk - 940820 Jordan K. Hubbard.
# This file is in the public domain.
.. the intention being to try and get the other *BSDs at least to
adopt it (Linux would be nice, but Berkeley make is a special hurdle
for them).
That whole process took a little longer than some people might have
hoped for, but if there were any impediments to progress that people
complained about during the process, the license was never raised as
one of them and I rather liked that. Considering how much free
software people love to screech in 3 different keys about this kind of
thing in any pan-OS effort, you might even consider it "fucking
amazing" that nobody complained. Sometimes a simple license really
does have its merits. :-)
Anyway, going PD might be a bit too far for some, but I think the
"USL" I suggested above might find some adherents. I find the
burgeoning trend towards "empty legalese which only sounds impressive"
in software licenses to be rather disturbing, personally, and I think
some of us are aping it only because it "seems like the safe thing to
do" when you're out looking for some boilerplate text. Ugh. :-)
- Jordan
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