I am trying to package The Hessling Editor for the openSUSE Package Hub,
but I've encountered a problem with the licensing. The source code
includes two files, getch.c and getch.h, that have a non-GPL compatible
license on them. Specifically:
Permission is hereby granted to copy, distribute or otherwise
use any part of this package as long as you do not try to make
money from it or pretend that you wrote it. This copyright
notice must be maintained in any copy made.
Is there any way those files can be replaced with code that has a GPL
compatible license?
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Is the problem that the copyright statement is inconsistent with just GPL or is it inconsistent with any suitable Open Source license that could be used for openSUSE Package Hub? My thoughts are to possibly change the license of THE to a less restrictive license. Would that help?
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It's partly that the license is one that isn't allowed in a GPL licensed package. The bigger problem, however, is that since the license for those two files demands that no one "make any money" from them, that means that SUSE can't redistribute it to our customers. Whether you change your license to something else wouldn't remove that restriction, so we still wouldn't be able to package and distribute THE.
I tried to find a way to contact the author to ask him if he would re-license the files, but I wasn't able to do that.
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A lot of would-be THE users must be people who use mainframes at work and want to use XEDIT on their desktops instead of having to work on a 3270 connection. But if it's at work there's money involved, which would mean they can't do that without violating the license. The license thus seems like something that is really limiting adoption of THE.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I am trying to package The Hessling Editor for the openSUSE Package Hub,
but I've encountered a problem with the licensing. The source code
includes two files, getch.c and getch.h, that have a non-GPL compatible
license on them. Specifically:
Permission is hereby granted to copy, distribute or otherwise
use any part of this package as long as you do not try to make
money from it or pretend that you wrote it. This copyright
notice must be maintained in any copy made.
Is there any way those files can be replaced with code that has a GPL
compatible license?
Is the problem that the copyright statement is inconsistent with just GPL or is it inconsistent with any suitable Open Source license that could be used for openSUSE Package Hub? My thoughts are to possibly change the license of THE to a less restrictive license. Would that help?
It's partly that the license is one that isn't allowed in a GPL licensed package. The bigger problem, however, is that since the license for those two files demands that no one "make any money" from them, that means that SUSE can't redistribute it to our customers. Whether you change your license to something else wouldn't remove that restriction, so we still wouldn't be able to package and distribute THE.
I tried to find a way to contact the author to ask him if he would re-license the files, but I wasn't able to do that.
A lot of would-be THE users must be people who use mainframes at work and want to use XEDIT on their desktops instead of having to work on a 3270 connection. But if it's at work there's money involved, which would mean they can't do that without violating the license. The license thus seems like something that is really limiting adoption of THE.