[CrackMonkey] It all comes back to monkies; or, copyright law of the jungle ([tb@MIT.EDU: Re: AT&T source code agreement])

[Seth David Schoen]

... concerning why the Debian Project would disapprove of a proposed free
software license containing a notification requirement:

----- Forwarded message from "Thomas Bushnell, BSG" <tb at MIT.EDU> -----

To: "Stephen C. North" <north at research.att.com>
Cc: "Henning Makholm" <henning at makholm.net>,
        "Elie Rosenblum" <fnord at cosanostra.net>,
        <debian-legal at lists.debian.org>
Subject: Re: AT&T source code agreement
From: tb at MIT.EDU (Thomas Bushnell, BSG)
Date: 28 Mar 2000 14:27:21 -0500
X-Mailing-List: <debian-legal at lists.debian.org> archive/latest/3485

"Stephen C. North" <north at research.att.com> writes:

> Yes, if "delivering custom-modified" software includes sharing
> source code with customers, the AT&T Source Code Agreement further
> requires sharing the patches with AT&T.  If you keep the patches
> private my reading of the AT&T license is that you can still
> redistribute binaries.  I just realized this to my slight surprise
> and amusement.
> 
> But doesn't the GPL also require the sharing of source code?
> 
> Why is the GPL good and the AT&T license not?

The GPL requires that when I give you a copy of the binaries, I give
you a copy of the source.  It does not require that I give a copy of
the source to anyone else.

Scenario.  I'm sitting in Africa, watching chimps.  Thanks to Jane
Goodall, there is just so much more we know about them, that we want
to keep way more detailed records.  So there's five of us, with our
laptops, but no net access.  

We're using your software, but we discover a deficiency, and so we fix
the bug.  Now each of us is working independently: we are employed by
different institutions; we happen to cooperate and live near each
other in the forest, but we have no formal ties.

If we were restricted under your agreement, we would not be able to
share the fixed program among ourselves, because (being in the forest)
we are unable to send you a copy of the patch.

Thomas


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-- 
Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org>  | And do not say, I will study when I
Temp.  http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/  | have leisure; for perhaps you will
down:  http://www.loyalty.org/   (CAF)  | not have leisure.  -- Pirke Avot 2:5