bitpim-devel

[Bitpim-devel] BitPim license change

[Roger B. <ro...@ro...>]

With the 0.7 release of BitPim, the license will be changing to
the Open Source License.

  http://www.opensource.org/licenses/osl-2.0.php

I have contacted all the copyright holders and they have all agreed.
If anyone can see any issues, please speak up now.

What brought this on was someone doing a BitPim0.62 for vx6000
that stretched some provisions of the Artistic License that
BitPim was under.  That wouldn't have been too big a deal except
for two problems.  One is that their "bug and portability fixes"
actually introduced new bugs, and that their version is indistinguishable
from the real BitPim (there is a one line change in the about box
only).  I am the one that ends up with the emails and support
requests so this gets to be a big problem.

Roger

Re: [Bitpim-devel] BitPim license change

[Chris C. <cle...@oc...>]

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003, Roger Binns wrote:

> With the 0.7 release of BitPim, the license will be changing to
> the Open Source License.
> 
>   http://www.opensource.org/licenses/osl-2.0.php
> 
> I have contacted all the copyright holders and they have all agreed.
> If anyone can see any issues, please speak up now.
> 
> What brought this on was someone doing a BitPim0.62 for vx6000
> that stretched some provisions of the Artistic License that
> BitPim was under.  That wouldn't have been too big a deal except
> for two problems.  One is that their "bug and portability fixes"
> actually introduced new bugs,

How did this stretch the Artistic License?

> and that their version is indistinguishable
> from the real BitPim (there is a one line change in the about box
> only).  I am the one that ends up with the emails and support
> requests so this gets to be a big problem.

How does the change to OSL mitigate future similar occurrences?

-- 
  Chris Cleeland, cleeland_c @ ociweb.com, http://www.milodesigns.com/~chris
     Principal Software Engineer, Object Computing, Inc., +1 314 579 0066
      Support Me Supporting Cancer Survivors in Ride for the Roses 2002
    >>>>>>>>>    Donate at http://www.milodesigns.com/donate    <<<<<<<<<

Re: [Bitpim-devel] BitPim license change

[Roger B. <ro...@ro...>]

> How did this stretch the Artistic License?

See section 2:

  http://www.opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.php

Now do you want to argue over wether supporting wallpapers,
phonebook and ringtones in 0.62 is a feature or bug/portability
fix?  The individual concerned claimed them as bug fixes
and consequently what they distributed as "the standard version".
They also didn't publish their changes for the same reasons.

And they didn't even have the courtesy to tell anyone what they
were doing, or ask advice.  That isn't required, but is general
good practise.  So combine all these actions together with the
section 2 loopholes, and someone determined can make a real
mess.
  
> How does the change to OSL mitigate future similar occurrences?

Section 6+3, and worst case section 4 (I could trademark the name
BitPim).

Roger