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GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resignsGNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resignsPosted Dec 27, 2012 18:51 UTC (Thu) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946)In reply to: GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns by rsidd Parent article: GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns
Any additional restrictions are problematic even if you believe they are merely clarifications and innocent. For instance, JSON license (http://www.json.org/license.html) says "The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil". That counts as a use restriction and makes this license non-free because "Good" and "Evil" is not defined within the license.
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GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Dec 27, 2012 19:15 UTC (Thu) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link]
Does that make it impossible to use JSON to exterminate all humans?
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Dec 27, 2012 19:19 UTC (Thu) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link]
Only if you think that it'd be an evil thing to do.
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Dec 28, 2012 2:06 UTC (Fri) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]
> Only if you think that it'd be an evil thing to do.
That seems a little far-fetched, don't you think?
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Dec 28, 2012 23:58 UTC (Fri) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]
How about the killing of a substantial and well-defined subset of humans? Genocidal maniacs tend to see their actions as anything but evil.
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Jan 2, 2013 13:48 UTC (Wed) by rfontana (subscriber, #52677) [Link]
Not necessarily. The license could be interpreted such that the standard for "evil" is not the subjective view of the licensee.
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Jan 2, 2013 16:31 UTC (Wed) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link]
I thought the licensor was on record as it being up to the licensee's interpretation?
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Jan 2, 2013 16:36 UTC (Wed) by rfontana (subscriber, #52677) [Link]
I wasn't aware of that. If that is so, I withdraw much of my past objection to this license to the extent the licensor you refer to is the licensor in a particular instance.
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Jan 2, 2013 16:59 UTC (Wed) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link]
I have recollections of something like "If IBM thinks it may do evil, IBM would need to negotiate a new license".
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Jan 8, 2013 17:04 UTC (Tue) by mgedmin (subscriber, #34497) [Link]
IIRC he said he gave an explicit right for IBM to use the software for evil, after receiving a request from IBM's laywers.
GNU sed 4.2.2 released; maintainer resigns Posted Dec 28, 2012 2:41 UTC (Fri) by cortana (subscriber, #24596) [Link]
You'd have to ask the licensor(s).
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