RE: [Caml-list] CDK license

[Brian Rogoff <bpr@best.com>]

On Wed, 6 Jun 2001, Dave Berry wrote:
> > From: Sven LUTHER [mailto:luther@dpt-info.u-strasbg.fr]
> > > I would encourage people to use an X/BSD-like license for code
> whereever
> > > possible. It saves you all this hassle with determining what is and
> is
> > > not allowed, and which code may be linked or distributed with which
> > > other code.
> > 
> > Yes, including taking all your code, doing some modification 
> > to it, and giving nothing back.
> 
> Yes.  If someone wishes to do that, they can.  Most people will choose
> to make changes available, because it benefits them if the open source
> library grows.  And if they don't, at least they are still using OCaml
> libraries, and increasing the usage of OCaml.  To me, this far outweighs
> any disadvantage.

I agree with Dave here. Besides, I don't think the {L}GPL prevents you
from modifying code and giving nothing back. It just means you can't
distribute that code. You could always use it for in-house software,
right (caveat; I'm not a lawyer, etc.)? 

Anyways, I've appended a part of the GNAT modified GPL which I snatched
from the GNU Ada compiler libraries, which may be of interest. Note the
part about generic instantiation, which would correspond to functor
instantiation for MLers. I think this is something like what Sven was 
mentioning with respect to the LGPL earlier.  

> If your main aim is to protect your code from unwanted use, then go
> ahead and use the GPL or LGPL.  If your main aim is to get your code
> used as widely as possible, use a less restrictive license.  Surely the
> aim of the CDK is to promote wide use, rather than to restrict it?

That's my take on it. Besides, if I use someone else's library in a
commercial product, it seems that it would be in my best interests to
contribute fixes and enhancements. That's why I don't mind an LGPL like 
approach which forces me to do so. What I don't want to do is to use
someone's library for some data structure and then have *all* of my code 
forced to accept that license.

-- Brian


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
--
--                         GNAT LIBRARY COMPONENTS
--
--
--
--                G N A T . S P I T B O L . P A T T E R N S
--
--
--
--                                 S p e c
--
--
--
--                            $Revision: 1.17 $
--
--
--           Copyright (C) 1997-1999 Ada Core Technologies, Inc.            --
--
--
-- GNAT is free software;  you can  redistribute it  and/or modify it under --
-- terms of the  GNU General Public License as published  by the Free Soft- --
-- ware  Foundation;  either version 2,  or (at your option) any later ver- --
-- sion.  GNAT is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITH- --
-- OUT ANY WARRANTY;  without even the  implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY --
-- or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License --
-- for  more details.  You should have  received  a copy of the GNU General --
-- Public License  distributed with GNAT;  see file COPYING.  If not, write --
-- to  the Free Software Foundation,  59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, --
-- MA 02111-1307, USA.                                                      --
--
--
-- As a special exception,  if other files  instantiate  generics from this --
-- unit, or you link  this unit with other files  to produce an executable, --
-- this  unit  does not  by itself cause  the resulting  executable  to be --
-- covered  by the  GNU  General  Public  License.  This exception does not --
-- however invalidate  any other reasons why  the executable file  might be --
-- covered by the  GNU Public License.                                      --
--
--
-- GNAT is maintained by Ada Core Technologies Inc (http://www.gnat.com).   --
--
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


-------------------
To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr.  Archives: http://caml.inria.fr