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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Noatun: Licensing, and a new one
From:       Kurt Granroth <granroth () suse ! com>
Date:       2001-01-02 21:48:03
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Charles Samuels wrote:
> Noatun has been under the artistic license for quite a while (it
> originally was under the GPL).  The artistic license is slightly
> problematic in that it isn't GPL-compatible, making it difficult for
> me to swipe XMMS code ;)
> 
> So, I present to you the KDE License.  I name it the KDE license
> because I hope that more KDE applications adopt it.  I also forward
> this to kde-devel as a hint for KAboutData::License_KDE to be added
> to that enum :)
 
Okay, first, I realize that you as the author have any right to use
any license you want for your code.  Your license also looks pretty
good to my layman eye.

HOWEVER, I think it is a really really bad idea for you to go this
route.  Licenses are an explosive issue -- one that I (and many other
KDE developers) have fought for years now.  I can assure you that this
will just start another fight and I am tired of being constantly on
the defensive.

And don't pretend that it's Noatun's problem only.. if this change
happens, then it becomes KDE's problem and I will start getting the
constant stream of emails and questions at shows like "why is KDE
inventing new licenses when the current ones work just fine."

So here's my position on this: Yes, the GPL, BSD, and X licenses all
suck.. but they are *accepted* in the Open Source community.  Your
license *isn't* (yet).  If you really want to go with this, I suggest
you do two things:

1) Run it before a lawyer to make sure it does that you *think* it
   does and doesn't do what you think it doesn't.
2) Get it approved and listed as such on opensource.org

That second clause is the most important.  If the Noatun Public
License (*please* don't use KDE Public License) isn't listed on
opensource.org, then I STRONGLY think we should move noatun out of
kdemultimedia until the license issue is resolved.
-- 
Kurt Granroth            | http://www.granroth.org
KDE Developer/Evangelist | SuSE Labs Open Source Developer
granroth@kde.org         | granroth@suse.com
            KDE -- Conquer Your Desktop
 
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