Re: [9fans] one reason ideas from Plan 9 didn't catch on

["Thomas Bushnell, BSG" <tb+usenet@becket.net>]

ravage@einstein.ssz.com (Jim Choate) writes:

> While I don't necessarily like some of the 'head-in-the-sand ivory-tower
> how-dare-you-question-me' attitude of some aspects of the Plan 9
> developers and their hanger-ons views (but I can live with it w/o any
> major issues - ignore -em - don't need 'em) I fail to see your problem
> with the current Plan 9 license. Yes, the original license (ie $300/use,
> no commercial usage) was problematic, and yes the original 'Open Source'
> license release was worthless as written, they DID re-write it several
> times into its current state. What are your specific views on the current
> license shortfalls?

A full description of the problems is at
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/plan-nine.html.  Here is a precis:

  You agree to provide the Original Contributor, at its request, with a
  copy of the complete Source Code version, Object Code version and
  related documentation for Modifications created or contributed to by
  You if used for any purpose.

This prohibits people from making private modifications.

  and may, at Your option, include a reasonable charge for the cost of
  any media.

This seems to limit the price that people may charge for an initial
distribution, and might prohibit selling copies for a profit.

  Distribution of Licensed Software to third parties pursuant to this
  grant shall be subject to the same terms and conditions as set forth
  in this Agreement,

When you download the software, Lucent demands that you explicitly
consent to the license.  If that's one of the "terms and conditions",
then it's a problem, because it would mean that before I can send a
copy of the software to my friend Joe, I have to get Joe's explicit
accession to the license.

  1. The licenses and rights granted under this Agreement shall
     terminate automatically if (i) You fail to comply with all of the
     terms and conditions herein; or (ii) You initiate or participate
     in any intellectual property action against Original Contributor
     and/or another Contributor.

This is a huge disaster.  It means that if I want to use Plan 9, I
have to promise never to sue Lucent for any IP violation.  By my using
Plan 9, I therefore would be granting to Lucent the right to use my
own copyright works in complete contravention of the license I have
assigned to them.  That would mean that Lucent could ignore the GPL on
anything I'd authored!  Hardly acceptible.

   You agree that, if you export or re-export the Licensed Software or
   any modifications to it, You are responsible for compliance with
   the United States Export Administration Regulations and hereby
   indemnify the Original Contributor and all other Contributors for
   any liability incurred as a result.

This clause is also a problem.  Laws are automatically in force:
whether mentioned by a license or not--for the people those laws
affect.  But by incorporating the law into the license, you extend the
reach of the law to people that would otherwise not be affected.
Since the laws in question work to limit the right of people to freely
copy the software, they infringe freedom.  You aren't responsible for
what the US government enacts, but by incorporating this into the
license, you force people who would not otherwise have to comply with
the USEAR to start complying with them.

 2.2 No right is granted to Licensee to create derivative works of or
   to redistribute (other than with the Original Software or a
   derivative thereof) the screen imprinter fonts identified in
   subdirectory /lib/font/bit/lucida and printer fonts (Lucida Sans
   Unicode, Lucida Sans Italic, Lucida Sans Demibold, Lucida
   Typewriter, Lucida Sans Typewriter83), identified in subdirectory
   /sys/lib/postscript/font.

These fonts include some Ghostscript fonts which are free, but the
rest doesn't even come close.

Thomas