Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!amdahl!chongo From: chongo@amdahl.amdahl.com (Landon Curt Noll) Newsgroups: comp.sources.d,misc.legal,comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Copyright status of Ctex and Common-Tex: whose copyright ??? Message-ID: <15392@amdahl.amdahl.com> Date: Wed, 30-Sep-87 04:01:01 EDT Article-I.D.: amdahl.15392 Posted: Wed Sep 30 04:01:01 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 3-Oct-87 08:24:36 EDT References: <167@yetti.UUCP> <4760@ncoast.UUCP> Reply-To: chongo@amdahl.amdahl.com (Landon Curt Noll) Organization: Amdahl Coup, UTS Products Hen house Lines: 24 Xref: mnetor comp.sources.d:1310 misc.legal:2913 comp.sys.atari.st:5366 As quoted from <167@yetti.UUCP> by oz@yetti.UUCP (Ozan Yigit): >+--------------- >| % This program is copyright (C) 1982 by D. E. Knuth; all rights are reserved >| % Copying of this file is authorized only if (1) you are D. E. Knuth, or if >| % (2) you make absolutely no changes to your copy. (The WEB system provides >| % for alterations via an auxiliary file; the master file should stay intact. How do they expect to enforce the 'no changes' section of this copyright? Are they going to checksum each version that they find? Are they going to drag someone into court because their Pascal compiler makes an altered copy of TeX by rewriting it in assembler? Do they really think that someone won't edit the source to get it to compile on their compiler? I can understand how they can prevent you from making and/or distributing copies. I can also understand that they can prevent you from distributing alter sources or derived sources. But a 'no changes' to your copy clause? The copyright gets even more BOGUS when you consider that Knuth claims that TeX is in the public domain! No, I don't have a copy of TeX, nor do I plan to as long as it has bogus copyright restrictions on it. chongo /\oo/\ -- [views above shouldn't be viewed as Amdahl views, or as views from Amdahl, or as Amdahl views views, or as views by Mr. Amdahl, or as views from his house]