On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Henning Brauer <lists-open...@bsws.de>wrote:
> > find all(!) copyright holders and have them agree to a new license. or > don't use that code. > > There are at least three projects involved here. 1. The Diku project 2. The Merc project 3. The "Forsaken Lands" project The Diku and Merc licenses have no problem fitting in at least at the Ports level. They both ask for citation of ownership, that a specific helpfile be left unmodified, and that no profit is made. They also want notification if you host a mud. Hosting a mud, and simply cleaning the code up for OpenBSD Ports are two different things. I would compare this "notify us if you host a mud" clause to be comparable to the burden placed upon the user if they wish to install Java packages from Ports. (Like OpenOffice) I already have permission from Diku and Merc authors by their license wording. (previously posted in this thread. Scroll back.) I do NOT have permission from umplawny of the "Forsaken Lands" project. Now, did umplawny have the original right to put his restricted code into a project that was much more loosely licensed? If he did not, can I use his improperly licensed code (ie. does he forfeit his license by superseding restrictions of the previous license, or by not having permission to modify the source, and add his own?) There's a tricky difference here I'm trying to get at. Either his code must be removed (most likely), or there is a loophole which allows me to circumvent his license in favor of the Diku or Merc licenses. Also, umplawny did not go so far as to create a license file representing his interests. He merely pasted his declaration directly into the source (farther down than the header text) like this: /* NOT TO BE USED OR REPLICATED WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION OF AUTHOR */ Again, this code umplawny introduced is commonly referred to as "snippets". It adds features for users and admins alike, but it is not critical to the functioning of the code as it was created by the Diku and Merc teams.