Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] OSS License

[Ian Roxborough <irox@ix.netcom.com>]

Personally, I like the GPL, but I'd like to point out that it
has never been tested in a court of law.  It also doesn't not address
the concerns of some people, that the OSS should not be used for
commerical purposes, I'm interpreting the non-commerical part to be
the plans and design docs to the OSS and any submarine built from
the plans.

I would prefer to just use the GPL, but we must address other peoples
concerns as well.

Ian.

On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 00:13:27 +0800
"Warrend Greenway" <dub@linuxmail.org> wrote:

> That is how I interpreted it, as well. The preamble would be
> where you would state your warranty position. The nature of the
> GPL doesn't allow a warranty anyhow. I am looking into the legal
> entity part now. Thanks for the input.
> 
> Warren.
> 
> > Well, this would solve plenty of problems... like finding an attourney
> > willing to do pro bono work.  The GPL is well researched and tested. 
> > The only item I could see would be to go through the application
> > procedure and get it covered before anything is etched in silicon.  We
> > will probably need to be set up as a legal entity of some kind... PSUBS
> > would probably qualify... or else issue the license to a single
> > individual.  Now, somebody might well take the design and go into
> > production... though I suspect that this would not be as much of a
> > problem as it could be.  The GPL actually encourages this.  
> > 
> > What the GPL will protect us from is an individual or legal entity
> > taking our OSS and copyrighting the design and then trying to charge us
> > for using our own design.  That would suck.  The other item is one of
> > warranty... there is none.  As I understand it, if somebody builds this
> > from our specs, they do so at their own risk.  If they tangle with
> > heteroteuthis Harvei (not sure I got the spelling right), and end up
> > being crushed in its tentacles and eaten, nobody can sue us.  In fact,
> > if they dive to the bottom of their own swimming pool and the hull
> > collapses because of our design flaw, we would still be covered... in
> > theory.
> > 
> > The fact that there will be absolutely no warranty needs to be made
> > abundantly clear in any documentation that we eventually release.
> > 
> > On Tue, 2003-01-28 at 10:20, Warrend Greenway wrote:
> > 
> > > They recommended the GPL, of which they already have a form
> > > intended for non-software documents. The FSF is interested in
> > > promoting the free exchange of information. As for liability,
> > > that is one of the reasons that any hardware is totally out of
> > > the question. Furthermore, they already cover software that
> > > is medical, and aerospace in nature. It sounds like they are
> > > simply interested in helping to make this kind of information
> > > available to the public. Hhhmmmm. Digital signature, though...
> > > I will check the message, I can have them put it on paper...But
> > > they said that there were already projects that dealt with designs
> > > like this under their protection.
> > > 
> > > Warren.
> > > 
> > > > Warren, which of their licenses did they recommend?  Did the agreement
> > > > come with any kind of digital signature that can be verified?  I'm a bit
> > > > surprised that they would be so quick to agree to something like this so
> > > > early in the project... submersibles are inherently lawsuits waiting to
> > > > happen.
> > > > 
> > > > On Mon, 2003-01-27 at 13:51, Warrend Greenway wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > Hey, Dale. I contacted the FSF (Free Software Foundation), and
> > > > > they agreed to harbor us under their legal umbrella. Any input
> > > > > on this? They said that they are already covering similar projects,
> > > > > and that they only problem would be hardware...Which we don't
> > > > > want to cover anyhow. This would mean that we would be covered
> > > > > under the GPL with a preamble. I am open to any discussion on this
> > > > > point. The GPL would have some drawbacks, but it would solve our
> > > > > license problems and give us a legal shield.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Warren.
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > Dale A. Raby
> > > > Editor/Publisher
> > > > The Green Bay Web
> > > > http://www.thegreenbayweb.com
> > > << dalesignature.gif >>
> > 
> > 
> > Dale A. Raby
> > Editor/Publisher
> > The Green Bay Web
> > http://www.thegreenbayweb.com
> << dalesignature.gif >>
> 
> -- 
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