Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!ZIA.AOC.NRAO.EDU!cflatter
From: cflatter@ZIA.AOC.NRAO.EDU (Chris Flatters)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re:  Motif 1.1 shipping (please read this too)
Message-ID: <9009021943.AA13879@zia.aoc.nrao.edu>
Date: 2 Sep 90 19:43:56 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 37

> Chris Flatters:
> #I challenge OSF to put their principles where their publicity is and
> #release OSF/Motif under the GNU General Public License, either version 1
> #or, at their option, a later version.
>
> Since Sun isn't doing this, why should OSF do it?

Greg Hennessy has missed the point.

What I am trying to say is that OSF should be giving the source to
OSF/Motif (a toolkit and window manager) away free of charge. The
GNU GPL is simply a way in which they can do this without being
unfairly exploited (by unscrupulous vendors charging money for something
they got free).  I would be perfectly statisfied if the OSF's legal
eagles drew up their own license provided that there is free access to
the source: I am less concerned about constraining developers who
use OSF/Motif to develop applications to distribute their work as
free software (this is an aspect of the original GPL that I had forgotten
about; however I believe that the relevant clauses of the GNU license have
now been rewritten so that applications written using libraries that fall
under the GPL do not, now, automatically fall under the GPL themselves).

Sun do not use the GNU GPL but they DO give away the source for the XView
toolkit and the OPEN LOOK window manager under very generous copyright
conditions.  This is a big point in favour of the OPEN LOOK user interface.

Making the source to OSF/Motif freely available would demonstrate OSF's
commitment to open software standards far more convincingly than their
current mudslinging campaign against OPEN LOOK.  In the meantime their
claim that OPEN LOOK is a closed, proprietary standard has a rather hollow
ring.

			Chris Flatters

PS. I would also like to see the sources for the OPEN LOOK intrinsics
toolkit (OLIT) and a sample version of the OPEN LOOK file manager made
freely available.