Would You Die To Respect a Software License?

Julie188 writes "Some 2,000 licenses cover the 230,000+ projects in Black Duck's open source knowledge base. While 10 licenses comprise 93% of the software, that leaves 1,980-odd licenses for the other 3% — and some of them have really crazy conditions. The Death and Repudiation License, for instance, requires the user to be dead."

Hell No !

[lord_rob the only on]

Even if I like a software to be free as in freedom, I respect a software developer to do whatever with his software

Math license

[pluther]

Which license redefines math so that 1980 + 10 = 2000, and taking 93% leaves only 3% remaining?

Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot

[MrEricSir]

Here's some more ideas:

Would you smell a nasty fart to prevent terrorism?
Would you give up your ability to see if it meant you could time travel?
Would you listen to an entire Britney Spears album if it could bring about world peace?

Re:Now that's....

[compro01]

I strongly suspect the D&R license is a BSD license fan responding to someone wanting them to dual-license something.

Death and Repudiation License is peanuts

[El_Muerte_TDS]

The Death and Repudiation License is nothing compared to the EULA of iPhone OS 5.1

Back in the 80's...

[N0Man74]

I remember many shareware authors writing strange things in their terms and licenses.

I recall that a common graphics viewer those cool new GIF files (among many other formats) wrote that if you continued using their software after 30 days without paying then a demon would be visited by demons who would torment you.

I was just a kid, didn't have a job, and I never paid. Demons rarely ever visited, and when they did it was just to borrow a cup of sugar or use the phone.

When I was in college...

[georgewilliamherbert]

One of my schoolmates released some software with a custom license, which was basically the old-form original UC Berkeley BSD license with a restriction prohibiting any use by persons in "Country Code F", defined as (paraphrasing from memory):

"France, Belgium, Quebec, Sengal, Ghana, Did we mention France?"

I think it was bad experiences with language classes in high school, but I'm not sure.

Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot

[Red Flayer]

Aw, come on, most of those are easy to pick. How about something that strains our decision engines a little bit?

-- Would you take a job as Steve "Monkeyboy" Ballmer's toe-cheese extractor if it meant Microsoft would publish only via OSS licenses?

-- Would you take a position as Steve "Tyrant" Jobs' fashion consultant if it meant Apple would open up the app store?

-- Would you lick Stallman's neck and armpit if it meant GNU/Hurd became a complete, usable, modern kernel?

These are the type of choices that would keep me up at night.

D&R license

[j0nb0y]

The D&R license doesn't require anyone to die... you just have to be dead to use software under it. The license even specifies how this is to be accomplished. You're allowed to tell your heirs to use the software on your behalf after you're dead.

The really puzzling clause is the revocation clause, which not only allows the licensor to revoke the license, but proclaims that the licensor WILL revoke the license, and then the heirs will be punished "to the fullest extent of the law." I believe a court would only find liability for usage AFTER the licensor revoked, regardless of the drafter's intention.

Another strange clause seems to say that ghosts and angels are not considered dead for purposes of the license. Pure silliness, of course. What court would claim jurisdiction over angels and ghosts? Certainly not a human one. And an inhuman one is not likely to respect software licenses. The drafter made a big mistake here in failing to define ghosts and angels. These words are just begging for a legal definition.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Viva la undead nation!

[HeckRuler]

Hey, some of us zombie programmers like to keep the code within a nice small circle. It's kind of a undead pride to release some code under the kill and kill-a-like license. Although the PCL's* don't usually understand the brotherhood that we zombies have, we can usually get those spineless incorporeal asses in HR to back us up. But it's not like we're elitists or a specifically close-minded group. We welcome wight web-masters, c/c++ cadavermen, matlab mummies, ZZT-oop zombies, go ghouls, and scripting skeletons. They're all welcome under my licenses.

*Pointy Crowned Liches

Remember not to use Java....

[fishexe]

...."the design, construction, operation or maintenance of any nuclear facility." That's in Sun's EULA. For real.

Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot

[grcumb]

-- Would you take a job as Steve "Monkeyboy" Ballmer's toe-cheese extractor if it meant Microsoft would publish only via OSS licenses?

I suppose it would be a worthy sacrifice.

-- Would you take a position as Steve "Tyrant" Jobs' fashion consultant if it meant Apple would open up the app store?

I am willing to expend my life in pursuit of turtlenecks if it means Openness for all.

-- Would you lick Stallman's neck and armpit if it meant GNU/Hurd became a complete, usable, modern kernel?

No! Not in a thousand lifetimes, no! What do you think I am, you sick twisted fuck?!?

Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot

[Red Flayer]

The first two are easy, but the third one's a false choice: you can also fork and do it yourself.

Where did you get an Instant Adult (tm) cloning device? I thought they were sold out?

I personally lack the replicator necessary to fork Stallman and lick him myself.

Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot

[Bigjeff5]

-- Would you lick Stallman's neck and armpit if it meant GNU/Hurd became a complete, usable, modern kernel?

Would get Stallman to finally shut up? If so, I'd definitely consider it.

Re:Remember not to use Java....

[oatworm]

Luckily there's also Windows "Small Battleship Edition" (perfect for battle cruisers and the like) and Windows "Carrier Edition" (CE).