Re: ASCL project on AdaPower.net

["Marin David Condic" <dont.bother.mcondic.auntie.spam@[acm.org>]

If the interest is to get the widest possible usage out of it (and I think
that's a noble goal) then public domain is probably the best choice. Or at
least something as unrestrictive as that which the ARM was published under.
(We want to get it into the ARM eventually, don't we?) Public domain would
make it extremely easy for professors to include it in their textbooks or
for implementors to build on top of it or for compiler vendors to distribute
it. There's no real money to be made in something like this from the
perspective of "selling" the library and anything that might be some flavor
of the GPL might only be there to attempt to coerce source code
distribution - which some end users might find objectionable. I'd suggest
just turning it loose like a live Grateful Dead concert and let it go where
it may.

But you're right that this is an issue best dealt with after we have an
initial cut at the spec - which I see as a kind of "Requirements Doc". It
may need to be dealt with prior to producing a working version of the
library. Those contributing to the implementation may want to understand
what restrictions - if any - are likely to be placed on their work.
(Presuming that anyone wishing to contribute agrees to some general goal of
maximum possible openness & utilization, there can still be some debate
about the best mechanism to get there.)

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/


"Ted Dennison" <dennison@telepath.com> wrote in message
news:ZoMO7.46863$xS6.76244@www.newsranger.com...
>
> I purposedly did *not* put a license on anything, just because I wanted to
avoid
> that issue for now. I'm afraid anything other than complete public domain
might
> cause a problem for a vendor somewhere, and that's the last thing we want.
>