Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 12:15:16 +0930 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Stephen McKay <syssgm@detir.qld.gov.au> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Personal Unix Source Code License Message-ID: <19990505121515.B40359@freebie.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <199905041552.BAA11924@nymph.detir.qld.gov.au>; from Stephen McKay on Wed, May 05, 1999 at 01:52:42AM %2B1000 References: <199905041552.BAA11924@nymph.detir.qld.gov.au>
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On Wednesday, 5 May 1999 at 1:52:42 +1000, Stephen McKay wrote: > Hi! I'm hoping some of the Personal Unix Source Code Licensees are on > this list. Well, I am, and I think there are a couple of others there too. > I just wanted to get a few opinions before I signed anything. > > Is anybody worried about "taint"? Back when USL was out to squash BSD, > AT&T claimed that just seeing the code infected your mind with their > intellectual property, and they wanted to put your brain in quarantine! > The long and boring SCO agreement seems pretty tame, but I don't read > these things often and might have missed something. In fact, this was a rather silly offhand comment at the time, and nobody except alt.folklore.computers took it seriously. > I've had a few giggles over how I would reply if SCO ever exercised their > right to know the "location, type and serial number of the DESIGNATED CPU". > And the perpetually renewing 1 year agreements seem odd but harmless, > unless SCO get bought out, I suppose. This was discussed at some length in the pups list. The opinion, even unofficially from within SCO, was that this was to keep the suits happy. Here a couple of quotes: [Warren Toomey, 26 Feb 1998] > No, what the legal guys have done is take the original v7 license and > alter it enough to keep us happy. This is why there are such hangovers > as designated CPUs. They probably did this to: > > + minimise the work they had to do, and > + prevent a product being licensed under widely different systems > > If they created a completely new license, there may be a legal slant: > e.g hey I own an original Western Electric v7 license, and now SCO's > selling licenses which allow export of code to China (for example). > That's unfair, because my license prevents that. Sue, sue!! > > [Maybe I'm just being paranoid here]. > Anyway, the CPU restriction is BOGUS. SCO already have a binary license > for v5, v6 and v7 which allows you to run these systems on an UNLIMITED > number of CPUs. I can't see how they are going to enforce the CPU > restriction in the new license. > > I think Dion suggested that auditing was probably not going to happen. > Mind you, don't hold him to that! Dion is Dion Johnson, Our Man at SCO. [Warren Toomey, 4 Mar 1998] > In article by Tim Shoppa: >> Another stupid question: few of us (perhaps I'm the only one) have >> CD-ROM readers/writers attached to PDP-11's. Will those who have to >> transfer the source kit through a PC-clone or other Unix workstation >> have to license the intermediary machines with SCO? In other words, >> will the intermediary machines need to be registered as "DESIGNATED >> CPU"s? > > My interpretation is this: > > DESIGNATED CPU means all CPUs licensed as such for a specific > SOURCE CODE PRODUCT. > > SCO grants to LICENSEE a personal, nontransferable and > nonexclusive right to use, in the AUTHORIZED COUNTRY, each SOURCE > CODE PRODUCT identified in Section 3 of this Agreement, solely > for personal use [..] and solely on or in conjunction with > DESIGNATED CPUs [...]. Such right to use includes the right to > modify such SOURCE CODE PRODUCT and to prepare DERIVED BINARY PRODUCT > based on such SOURCE CODE PRODUCT, > > In my opinion, you can't USE the source code unless you have a CPU which > run the machine code which is produced by the source code. I can't prepare > a DERIVED BINARY PRODUCT if I don't have a PDP-11 or an emulator of such. [end quotations] > So, the real worry is that getting the Official (but Ancient) Unix Source > might in some way inhibit my ability to engage in current day free Unix-like > software development. > > Is it just the stuff they put in my water, or is there a valid reason for > concern? I think it's the stuff they put in your water. This kind of discrimination is illegal in most countries, including the USA and Australia. Greg -- See complete headers for address, home page and phone numbers finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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