From owner-freebsd-hackers Thu Jan 29 18:35:01 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id SAA18747 for hackers-outgoing; Thu, 29 Jan 1998 18:35:01 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from shell.futuresouth.com (shell.futuresouth.com [207.141.254.20]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id SAA18708 for ; Thu, 29 Jan 1998 18:34:52 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from fullermd@futuresouth.com) Received: from shell.futuresouth.com (mail.futuresouth.com [207.141.254.21]) by shell.futuresouth.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id UAA06145; Thu, 29 Jan 1998 20:34:21 -0600 (CST) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 20:34:20 -0600 (CST) From: "Matthew D. Fuller" To: Jamie Howard cc: Mike Smith , dmaddox@scsn.net, Greg Lehey , hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The BSD License In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG X-To-Unsubscribe: mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org "unsubscribe hackers" On Thu, 29 Jan 1998, Jamie Howard wrote: > On Fri, 30 Jan 1998, Mike Smith wrote: > > > - If source code is not available and freely redistributable, it is > > impossible for it to be included in the FreeBSD codebase. (This is > > really a no-brainer). > > Hello, I've been lurking around this mailing list for a spell now and > recently considered this question myself. I am confused by the above > statement. Was Sun Microsystems legally bound to (a) make the source to > SunOS available and (b) make the source code available for free? What > about others like DEC and Ultrix or OSF/1 or NeXT and NeXTStep? That's easy. That's because FreeBSD requires that all source in the base OS is freely distributable, so anything we add in has to be under such a license. SunOS et al have no such restriction; they license their source out for mega $, and aren't really under any compulsion to do so, other than the fact that most people demand to at least be able to BUY the source. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | FreeBSD; the way computers were meant to be | * "The only reason I'm burning my candle at both ends, is * | that I haven't figured out how to light the middle yet."| * fullermd@futuresouth.com :-} MAtthew Fuller * | http://keystone.westminster.edu/~fullermd | *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*