Public Domain Python

[Grant Griffin]

In article <LNBBLJKPBEHFEDALKOLCEEJJHHAA.tim_one at email.msn.com>, "Tim says...
>
>[Grant Griffin]
>> ...
>> And Perl's license is best of all:  Use the GPL if you want to (for
>> its marketing appeal), or use Perl's truly free "Artistic License" if
>> you want.  (Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? <wink>)
>
>Actually, the Artistic License is pretty obnoxious wrt derivative works:
>
>    http://www.opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.html
>

Which part do you find obnoxious?  What I found was lots of reasonable options.

I guess if you're suggesting that the Artistic License retards the creation of
derivatives by stating "the conditions under which a Package may be copied, such
that the Copyright Holder maintains some semblance of artistic control over the
development of the package, while giving the users of the package the right to
use and distribute the Package in a more-or-less customary fashion, plus the
right to make reasonable modifications", then I agree with you: whether or not
that's its intent, that seems to be its effect. <wink>

Presumably, the whole nutty "Artistic License" thing is designed to reduce
forking, and to promote BDFL-ship.  (Which I guess amounts to about the same
thing.)  And since Larry Wall has made Perl what it is today, I vote that he
remain in charge. <wink>

>Dual licensing is also a practical pain, as most people have no idea what
>they're doing (more power to them!), and some Perl stuff released under the
>Artistic License alone has shown up in GPL'ed distributions (when you suck
>down a Perl pkg from CPAN, do you stop to read its license before using it
>in *your* pkg?  fat chance).

OK, ya' got me: maybe Larry Wall should get rid of Perl's GPL licensing option.
<wink>

>Then the exorcists get called in, and rather
>than make progress on the *software*, people piss away their time trying to
>straighten out the license mess.

Could you give us an example? <wink>

maybe-Guido,-CWI,-CNRI,-BeOpen,-and-Al-Gore-should-all-just-agree
   -to-place-Python-in-the-public-domain-ly y'rs,

=g2

_____________________________________________________________________

Grant R. Griffin                                       g2 at dspguru.com
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