Re: Random thoughts... [LWN.net]

Re: Random thoughts...

Posted Sep 29, 2002 21:35 UTC (Sun) by Phaeton (guest, #3579)
In reply to: Random thoughts / exegesis on the new licenses by Peter
Parent article: OSI approves two new licenses

Okay, what I do not understand is why we need the AFL.

The BSD license is doing well, in fact there are some
operating system distributions who use exactly that
license.

It has the big pro that it's short, understandable for
all those who'd say: IANAL, and basically goes down
smoothly.

You don't try to gulp hooks like with the new AFL, where
you'd consult a lawyer first to find out whether you really
should be using that license.

For the OSL, it's even longer than the AFL. *shriek*
Do people really think users and most 3rd party developers
actually read such manifests ?

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Re: Random thoughts...

Posted Sep 29, 2002 23:14 UTC (Sun) by lordsutch (subscriber, #53) [Link]

I think the point of the two OSI licenses is to stop the proliferation of mutually-incompatible licenses that have patent clauses; i.e., so you can take code from e.g. Sun and IBM and combine it under the same license, rather than dealing with the fact 2 teams of lawyers were involved (thus creating two incompatible license texts).

I don't know if this is likely to be successful, but it is worth trying.