Slashback: Insectivores, Persistence, Domaination

Updates below await your raw, chafed eyeballs anxious for information about new domain names (more than you can eat), developers eating bugs in contrition (more than you want to eat), a question about the EULA bundled with the new Larry Ellison toy (to chew on), and RSM's [Oops. That's "RMS's" -- timothy] reaction to the Qt / TrollTech take on software freedom. MMMmmmmm.

Mastering the new-domains domain You read earlier this week about the new-TLD discussions in Yokohama; inetwiz writes with several handy links if you want to know more details: "According to a report on EFnet, the ICANN executive board is scheduled to make a ruling on the proposed new top-level domain names. The papers which contain the presentations for the new top-level domains can be found here. The meeting topic paper is here. There are hundreds of URLs (a couple-hundred too many to list here!) at the ICANN Web site. For more information on the whole meeting in Yokohama, including Webcasts (woohoo!), check here. Stay tuned to see the approval!"

Can I see your license, please? backtick writes "The new NIC (ThinkNIC.com) runs on Linux and has lots of Linux/GNU software. But to buy one, you have to agree to a EULA which says amongst other things:

"You shall not reproduce, make derivative works of, distribute, rent or lease the Software. You shall not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Software."

Now, I don't know about you, and IANAL, but doesn't the GPL come into play somewhere around here? Maybe I don't understand it as well as I should, but nowhere on the ThinkNIC site or anywhere in any press release have they mentioned the release of any GPL'd updates, etc. Ideas from the legal-type people? (I'd thought about dropping this into Bruce Peren's lap or some of the other savvy people, but thought I'd ask it here instead. I'm sure they read Slashdot!)"

Or is this just boilerplate that legal departments at computer companies sonambulistically [thanks to RealityMaster101, I now know it should be somnambulistically. Thanks! - timothy] slap onto any ol' software release?

The last word is never the last word is never the last advtech writes "Richard Stallman asks BeOpen.com: 'Warwick Allison in your interview says some confused things about the GPL. To prevent the readers from being misled, would you please post the respose?' BeOpen posted his response on their site." Richard M. Stallman simply does not sit still when he disagrees with someone -- and it's nice to see BeOpen willing to post the response.

Please pass the DDT-sauce ... Andrew Welch writes: "I remember some people on /. wanted to track this story when it first appeared here, to see if Ambrosia Software would really go through with it. Well, we are -- we'll be eating bugs as penance for the bugs that were in our software.

Yes, that's right -- the day of reckoning has come, we'll actually be eating bugs at the MacWorld expo, as per our pledge last August! Read the article for the juicy (ick!) details:http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/news/newslette r/

In a nutshell: 3dfx Interactive, maker of high-end 3D video cards, has teamed up with Ambrosia Software, Inc. to host the public spectacle in their booth #1455 at MacWorld/NYC 2000. In what will amount to a modern-day public lynching, users who have been plagued with bugs in software can delight in seeing Marketdroid Jason Whong eat the crunchy critters as penance for the buggy deeds of the software industry."

I guess I'd rather bugs be in the developers than in the software -- but guys, please leave room for dessert.

Comments

Read the whole thing before allowing knee-jerk

[Hollins]

Next time, read the whole thing.

Third Party Software distributed under the Gnu General Public License) is licensed to you under the terms of the applicable Third Party Software End User License accompanying such software (the "Excluded Third Party Software"), and, except with respect to Sections 5 ("Disclaimer") and 7 ("Limitations"), the terms of this Agreement do not apply to such Excluded Third Party Software. You may view these Third Party Software End User Licenses using the Help menu in the Netscape browser on your NIC

Anyone tried to hook a hard drive up to this thing?