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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