From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,d0f6c37e3c1b712a X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: AdaCore ... the Next SCO? References: <1151405920.523542.137920@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com> <1151434144.2179.36.camel@localhost> <1151965334.709372.227600@a14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> <3Ryqg.368$Rk2.140@trndny04> <1152882713.304794.267470@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <34r70ox8kc.fsf@hod.lan.m-e-leypold.de> <1153167224.590828.32290@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com> <1153175027.628030.98470@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> From: M E Leypold Date: 18 Jul 2006 02:38:27 +0200 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii User-Agent: Some cool user agent (SCUG) NNTP-Posting-Host: 88.72.232.107 X-Trace: news.arcor-ip.de 1153182667 88.72.232.107 (18 Jul 2006 02:31:07 +0200) X-Complaints-To: abuse@arcor-ip.de Path: g2news2.google.com!news4.google.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!newsfeed.kamp.net!newsfeed.kamp.net!news.unit0.net!newsfeed.arcor-ip.de!news.arcor-ip.de!not-for-mail Xref: g2news2.google.com comp.lang.ada:5745 Date: 2006-07-18T02:38:27+02:00 List-Id: "Hyman Rosen" writes: > Michael Bode wrote: > > This, as I have learned here, has no legal force. > > You always have to ask the author. > > You have heard this claimed here. I would suggest > that you do not "learn" it. Should things ever come to > enforcement actions, a judge is going to look very > dubiously at anyone claiming that a plain statement > of license embedded in a file does not apply. Hi Hyman, I hope I'll find time for a more in depth answer at another time. For now only the following: - License notices (file headers, COPYING file) between the following versions of GtkAda have not changed: 2.2.1, 2.4.0 as from libre.act-europe at the beginning of 2005, 2.4.0 as from obtained today from libre2, 2.8.0 as obtained from AdaCore CVS today. - Nonetheless AdaCore claims that the version(s) now available from their site are GPL only (not linking exception). When asked for the other 2 Version (2.2.1 and 2.4.0/2005) they suddenly fall silent and become unresponsive. - 2.2.1 to carries a GMGPL notice on freshmeat up to this day and is actually served from libre2 (so they cannot say they don't know about this ... ) - 2.4.0/2005 from libre1 had an explicit GMGPL notice on the website. I think that actually supports the hypothesis that AdaCore obviously thinks that the license notices in the files are meaningless. Explicit requests to clarify this point are met with glaring silence. This is the point, AFAIS, to which Michael refers. And let's be honest: I presently see no movement from the community to pressure AdaCore to get their act clean. Since everybody loves GPL (me included (well, sort of), despite the impression I seem to have left sometimes), it just seems to be save to assume GPL and forget about the slightly different notices in the files. That of course is, how licenses start to loose their meaning, by bad practice. And that is (even worse) how reliance to notices in the distributions will be undermined. > Should things ever come to enforcement actions, a judge is going to > look very dubiously at anyone claiming that a plain statement of > license embedded in a file does not apply. I doubt that shoddy practice with regards to license notices in the files ever comes to an "enforcement action". After all hardly anybody will complain, since the actual license is "more GPL" not "less" and GPL is the morally good license. Personally I do not think it is good to be fuzzy in these things. If the trust in current distribution practice is undermined, it'll not create freedom if I've to find an actual rights holder and get him speaking to me (which is even more difficult) every time I want to use an open source package. Regards -- Markus