Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Selling of free software Message-ID: <1990Aug10.170521.9435@zoo.toronto.edu> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology References: <6--4A8C@xds13.ferranti.com> <1990Aug8.173146.1206@santra.uucp> <7268@star.cs.vu.nl> Date: Fri, 10 Aug 90 17:05:21 GMT In article <7268@star.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes: >I would suggest that people who post software and intend it to be in the >public domain, put in a notice to that effect... In general, this is not merely a good idea, it is necessary. In countries abiding by the Berne Convention -- which now includes the US -- it is not necessary to attach a copyright notice for copyright to be in effect. If you want something to be in the public domain, you *must* say so, in order to renounce the implicit copyright. Personally, I don't recommend putting things into PD. A nice permissive copyright notice like the Berkeley one or the C News one is better. That way, you can at least insist on getting credit for what you do. (I do not recommend the GNU copyleft, which is much more restrictive, unless you really support the Cult of Free Software. Many people find it legally difficult or impossible to use copylefted software.) -- It is not possible to both understand | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology and appreciate Intel CPUs. -D.Wolfskill| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry