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OSoft Releases ThoutReader - A Virtual Library for Developers
OSoft has
announced the initial release of the ThoutReader, an open source
documentation platform that works like a virtual library so developers can
quickly organize and search all of their reference documentation at once.
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NOT open source Posted Aug 6, 2004 20:59 UTC (Fri) by andrel (subscriber, #5166) [Link] Their license is definitely not DFSG compliant, nor does it meet the weaker OSI guidelines. (Clauses 7 and 8 of the license restrict modification.)
NOT open source Posted Aug 7, 2004 4:39 UTC (Sat) by piman (subscriber, #8957) [Link] Given that it doesn't give a specific method by which the link must be contained or displayed, and that it only requires the link to be in the code rather than publicly displayed in the binary, I believe it's DFSG-free and OSI-open source, but GPL-incompatible. In fact, simple inclusion of the license meets the requirements, since it contains the required link.
(This constitutes only a cursory review of the license, and I may change my opinion later. This does not represent any official opinion of Debian or OSI. OSI in fact, will undoubtedly approve the license regardless of whether it meets their stated definition (that does represent my official opinion of OSI, though...).)
NOT open source Posted Aug 8, 2004 23:21 UTC (Sun) by jjs (guest, #10315) [Link] I don't think it meets the guidelines. Issues:Clause 7 - what if osoft goes out of business? Now you CAN'T link to their site, thus you can't distribute. Clause 7 & 8 - requirement to purchase a license to use with commercial software - violation of DFSG Term 6 - restrictions on fields of endeavor (note that restrictions on PROPRIETARY software are OK, you can have open source commercial software).
I have seen both of these held as not meeting the DFSG on the debian-legal mailing list.
Also note that clause 6 is the old BSD advertising clause - incompatible with GPL (but doesn't make it non-free).
IANAL, my interpretation, etc.
jjs
NOT open source Posted Aug 9, 2004 5:29 UTC (Mon) by piman (subscriber, #8957) [Link] Clause 7: There is no requirement the link be valid; since an exact URL is given, the worst you need to do is keep a broken URL. But like I said, since the link is already in the license, the "worst" you do is include the license itself, which is already required. Similar clauses get declared non-free because they mandate links in the software itself, in documentation, or define the link target in a less-specific manner.
The commercial use clauses of 7-8 only apply if you want to use the software and not comply with 7-8. If you use it commercially but keep the link (i.e. keep the license, as is mandatory), you're fine. You are correct that "no commercial use" clauses are a violation of DFSG 6, but that's not what this clause is.
NOT open source Posted Aug 10, 2004 2:07 UTC (Tue) by MDC (guest, #23898) [Link] Thank you for your interest in our software. The ThoutReader has a very open, flexible license. The ThoutReader is distributed at no cost and our source code is readily available on SourceForge. Many well known OS applications have both user and commercial licenses. MySQL would be a good example of this. The primary difference between OSoft's individual and commercial license involves the removal of the Download Link. There are two reasons for this limitation:
1. Our goal is to attain wide distribution for the developer/authors who contribute content. The Download Link assures that no matter where the ThoutReader (or its derivatives) was distributed, every user will have full access to all posted content. Keep in mind that anyone can contribute content. We have a very "author friendly" agreement that allows authors to retain copyrights, set their own selling price, and update the content as needed.
Our license allows individuals to use ThoutReader code in other projects, embed the ThoutReader in other projects, or create new implementations of the ThoutReader, so long as the download button is not altered. This is only a constraint when embedding or modifying the ThoutReader or when using ThoutReader code in a project that provides similar functionality to the ThoutReader. If you want to use our code to create a mail reader or anything other than distributing and rendering books and reference material, please do. The ThoutReader is an incredible tool that makes referencing documentation simple and easy. Within the next few weeks we will be adding a lot of new content - nearly all of it free. We welcome any suggestions for improving the ThoutReader license provided the author protections remain in place. Please be specific to allow us to pinpoint the exact area you would like to see changed.
M. Carey
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