From owner-freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Sun Dec 24 08:27:47 2017 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 227D1EA5A78 for ; Sun, 24 Dec 2017 08:27:47 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sid@bsdmail.com) Received: from mout.gmx.com (mout.gmx.com [74.208.4.200]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "mail.gmx.com", Issuer "thawte SSL CA - G2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id DFEEF6E9A2; Sun, 24 Dec 2017 08:27:46 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sid@bsdmail.com) Received: from [108.70.50.7] ([108.70.50.7]) by 3c-app-mailcom-lxa08.server.lan (via HTTP); Sun, 24 Dec 2017 09:27:22 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: From: Sid To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org, jonc@chen.org.nz, portmaster@BSDforge.com, grog@FreeBSD.org, gurenchan@gmail.com Subject: Re: License and adopting software Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2017 09:27:22 +0100 Importance: normal Sensitivity: Normal Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 3 X-Provags-ID: V03:K1:6xwpA3ogk4Yuset2HBd6tjSTGIGEzdFdwStnzlhMKct GhUH7sojqrjkQJjB4aDBMVc2FoOR0U1v+tJkoawX9pRbICsav4 6vPI72YP6I4Nd1LZ5oazhZUQYVGrdC20iWKf5eDpv/6OMEtixN 2bycvvzONxpAUFw5XuKhQm+vXez7w5s2Idhl4W/mQalDScf3mR LtIzum1JNclFPqeBYdIIL8+y7MnrGD3QAgDGrVPmPY1eFkO0sr e4OQ33EyTJxRNuVe3vfZelpO8b2C0WMCTTq6tgS4x15hr3wMum CD7ODQ= X-UI-Out-Filterresults: notjunk:1;V01:K0:kAmEzAqq5Yw=:SpU4Je04HcJYVMcONrQag7 DCt/mdtxGsAlaF0Vy1VIbW07NLLFXAbwXVCJF19IgP0JN+cRvANv6Ma7XbsfwemdQtBz5RnYW tuD3hONvsOpxKJBbKVPHnRxJwE8Q6v7L65j/V6jMuRAvHMZIz5xTafTkewmfTQfI9jkwRbxoE OsT8Z/1+iypQd2po8pJb27xWA9xiKmLJ3OIXbfKlN+ELiN6qleZWVDRb6e/iZHqMd/NJKlLcv Fyq5HXwh4LfzReV9qyJ8vkMRtlU9lWRilm5+2ZoZYpll+XnavgPr9iqhHx9WTlVyClCHTahO3 +1WFd6jJ/g3bMQaArFXjjR0HxNz6Xr5a+tCm3HvmQloMojM003qtblyodigvDfTw9qDg9d9pT iDVTLRuOVC1IlKNv2xF7+cG7LZURsqDWYQWycf4qgVOZQKBofOpJ8KXPjouBhkxT+9uyRxyLM +Nwpd2yqqdH4ryuJUGG0va+IwVvNBKf7dwgAyfr1OlDtt5WvogxhDtdwEOC8EaxrOS5WkMgBX Ldp1hMymllZ/qiRWyUm9GUDY4HSuxlMvUt6FVYN3k/w X-BeenThere: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.25 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting software to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2017 08:27:47 -0000 If the author doesn't respond, it's best to move on=2E Either use their GPL= , or completely rewrite it, to avoid infringing on their work=2E It should = be in it's own separate files, so it doesn't get absorbed into that other w= ork's more restrictive license, before it is its own work=2E You'll need to= look more into that=2E Their copyright of the work is what you have to avoid, which is allowed fo= r use by its respective license variant: GPL, LGPL, BSD, ISC, Apache, MIT, = etc=2E These publications help with what constitutes general and software copyrig= ht, to avoid infringing on developers' licensed copyrights=2E https://www=2Ecopyright=2Egov/circs/circ01=2Epdf - Copyright Basics https://www=2Ecopyright=2Egov/circs/circ33=2Epdf - Works not Protected by = Copyright https://www=2Ecopyright=2Egov/circs/circ61=2Epdf - Copyright Registration = of Computer Programs There are other organizing bodies on copyright, that will convey useful in= formation too=2E "The copyright law does not protect the func- tional aspects of a computer program, such as the program=E2=80=99s=20 algorithms, formatting, functions, logic, or system design=2E" An "ad minima" such as adding obvious words and minimum content like "an" = or "the" also don't account for copyright protection=2E Lists and facts don= 't account for copyright=2E I don't really understand, if the section "Derivative Computer Programs" i= n circ61 is referring to an author's own work, or others' works=2E This is = worth investigating=2E The core FreeBSD was rewritten from scratch, as in completely different co= de that accomplished the objective of removed code=2E It's like the differe= nce between a car, shoes, a motorcycle, a bicycle, a scooter, a train, and = a dolly for function of transport, that most have the inclusion of the comm= on public domain wheel=2E I'm not familiar with code=2E But when there's a story, set of facts, othe= r ideas, or other information, there are many ways to write about it, witho= ut infringing on a copyright=2E There are many summaries, or book reports t= hat don't infringe on the author's work, but they all accomplish the task o= f depicting that work=2E Drawings are a little different: freehand drawing = still violates a copyright of the original work, even if the end result loo= ks fundamentally different than the photo it is from=2E I hope this clears up some ideas about licenses, and their relation to wha= t is covered by softwares' respective copyrights=2E