ask for APSL? for real this time?

Jimmie Houchin jhouchin at cableone.net
Thu Jan 15 22:27:22 UTC 2004


A couple quick comments.

As regarding settling on a license. I, like Andrew, prefer the BSD License.

http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php

It is small.
It is as free as the MIT license.
It allows business to cover their legal backsides with a small 
no-endorsement clause.
It is a very well known and well understood license.
Apple is a consumer of BSD licensed software and consequently should 
understand what that means.

For these as well as others reasons I think the BSD license is possibly 
the best license for Squeak and to approach Apple for.



If Alan approaches Steve (Apple), another possibility is a complete 
transferal of copyright.
    (Yes, you may think I'm nuts. I'm okay with that.)

What if we had a SqueakFoundation, legally incorporated with a board 
Apple respects, to which Apple could sell/transfer their 
"ownership/copyrights" of Squeak to?

We could easily offer the same consideration that Apple gave Xerox for 
the rights it acquired to develop Squeak. Wasn't that $1?  I'll write 
the check now. :)

This would relieve Apple of any and all legal responsibility and 
liability concerning Squeak.
  (naive opinion from non-attorney with the possibility of correction. :)

 From that position it would be easy enough to redo the license to a BSD 
or Squeak Community License or some such.

 From that position we could approach Disney, et al. and either they 
re-license or assign their copyrights. My checkbook is still out, I can 
write them a $1 check too. :)  Or worst case, we excise their code into 
a future-forward version of Squeak.



Separate from the above.

I am not clear on Andrew's statements regarding licensing of new code.

I understand if I am writing in Squeak (environment) my code, I am not 
in a clean room. However, if I don't modify anything in that environment 
by write separate classes/code to perform my tasks. I would think I 
could establish the license at my discretion without regard to SqL.

But from my understanding of Andrew, that is not the case.

Yes my code may be a user or consumer of Squeak code. But if I am not 
inheriting from other code... thought...

I can't write classes without inheriting from SqL code (Object...) and 
thusly that would viral mine?  Oh boy.  Is that correct? That is a 
saddening thought. :(


If that is the case it seems important to approach Apple or put effort 
into Squat, Slate, or even Smalltalk/X, etc...

Insight appreciated.

Jimmie Houchin




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