Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!wuarchive!dsuvax!ghelmer
From: ghelmer@dsuvax.uucp (Guy Helmer)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Copyright, was Request for permission (Important)
Message-ID: <1991May10.155611.13593@dsuvax.uucp>
Date: 10 May 91 15:56:11 GMT
References: <9898@star.cs.vu.nl>
Organization: Dakota State University
Lines: 36

In <9898@star.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes:
>Alternatively, you can put the software into the public domain, in which
>case you lose all your rights.  Intermediate forms such as "This is public
>domain except that you can't ..." have no legal validity.

True.  No restriction can be claimed if a work is declared to be in the
public domain, and any claimed restrictions can not be held up in court.

So many people confuse the concepts of public domain, freely-available
(freeware), and shareware that I take great pains to make the distinctions
clear.  The GNU General Public License doesn't strictly fall into any
of the above categories, so it makes the issues even more confusing.

> The GNU copyleft
>would never stand up in court, but FSF is safe because their software is also
>copyright, which will stand up in court if need be.

The GNU "copyleft" is an explicit copyright with rights and requirements,
and the "General Public License" (which I believe to be the proper name
of the "copyleft") takes pains to require that the source
code to programs that the license is applied to is publicly available.

BTW, isn't the GNU C compiler included in the OSF/1 reference port to
the MIPS architecture, and didn't Data General include GCC as part of
their UN*X operating system for the 88000?  If so, this seems to be setting
precedent in that some lawyers are finally allowing the FSF code to be
included in products.

I appreciate the approach that Prentice-Hall is taking to MINIX since
they don't want exclusive rights to code and they allow upgrades
to be posted.  I hope they continue to support MINIX this way.
-- 
Guy Helmer, Dakota State University Computing Services
helmer@sdnet.bitnet, dsuvax!ghelmer@wunoc.wustl.edu, wupost!dsuvax!ghelmer
"I'm a cowboy, on a keyboard I ride..."
                                        -- with apologies to Bon Jovi