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Domain: hams.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to hams.com.

Comments · 7

  1. Bruce Perens on why to avoid the Artistic License by Paul+Crowley · · Score: 4 · on What about the Artistic License?
    Bruce Perens has argued strongly for avoiding this license. In his article on the Open Source Definition for Open Sources, he writes:
    Please see appendix XXX for the full text of the Artistic License. Although this license was originally developed for Perl, it's since been used for other software. It is, in my opinion, a sloppily-worded license, in that it makes requirements and then gives you loopholes that make it easy to bypass the requirements. Perhaps that's why almost all Artistic-license software is now dual-licensed, offering the choice of the Artistic License or the GPL.

    Section 5 of the Artistic License prohibits sale of the software, yet allows an aggregate software distribution of more than one program to be sold. So, if you bundle an Artistic-licensed program with a 5-line hello-world.c, you can sell the bundle. This feature of the Artistic License was the sole cause of the "aggregate" loophole in paragraph 1 of the Open Source Definition. As use of the Artistic License wanes, we are considering removing the loophole. That would make the Artistic a non-Open-Source license. This isn't a step we would take lightly, and there will probably be more than a year of consideration and debate before it happens.

    The Artistic License requires you to make modifications free, but then gives you a loophole (in section 7) that allows you to take modifications private or even place parts of the Artistic-licensed program in the public domain!

    Avoid. If you want to allow commercial forks, go for the X license (not the BSD license: see RMS's article on The BSD License Problem. If you don't, go GPL or LGPL.
    --
  2. Licensing FAQ by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 3 · on "New Copyleft License" released
    The end of my O'Reilly chapter includes a licensing FAQ. Read it here.

    Thanks

    Bruce

  3. My Chapter's Free - Read it On-Line by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1 · on Review:Open Sources
    Read my chapter on-line here.

    I am working a 100% free sequel to this book, called Copy This Book! It will contain the GPL-ed essays from the Open Sources book, and other essays that are under licenses that are compliant with the DFSG/OSD.

    I'll have the first version online this evening. If you'd like to write for this, start writing, and e-mail me at copythis@hams.com.

    I think it's time for hackers to take back charge of their information sources. This is my first step, there will be more.

    Thanks

    Bruce Perens

  4. My Chapter's Free - Read it On-Line by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1 · on Review:Open Sources
    Read my chapter on-line here.

    I am working a 100% free sequel to this book, called Copy This Book! It will contain the GPL-ed essays from the Open Sources book, and other essays that are under licenses that are compliant with the DFSG/OSD.

    I'll have the first version online this evening. If you'd like to write for this, start writing, and e-mail me at copythis@hams.com.

    I think it's time for hackers to take back charge of their information sources. This is my first step, there will be more.

    Thanks

    Bruce Perens

  5. More online chapters. by Ray+Dassen · · Score: 1 · on Review:Open Sources

    The final draft of Bruce Perens' chapter "The Open Source Definition" is on-line, as is Eric Raymond's prologue ""The Real Programmers".

  6. Uh oh by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1 · on ESR chapter of "Open Sources" online
    You don't even reveal your name and I have to live up to your standards??? It's a cruel world, I guess.

    Read the thing and judge. It's here.

  7. My chapter's online, too. by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1 · on ESR chapter of "Open Sources" online
    Read my chapter here.

    Bruce