Would You Die To Respect a Software License? 233
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."
It's not news, it's Slashdot (Score:5, Insightful)
Slow day.
Who put the Idle story in the News bin? (Score:4, Insightful)
If a software license exists, and no software is written that is available under the terms of that license, does it merit discussion on Slashdot?
It looks to me as somebody set up a site to create a gallery of TOSes so software writers can get some ideas... but then the site got attacked by the typical forum trolls took over and we get a comedy site as the end result. This belongs to Idle next to news from The Onion.
Severability (Score:3, Insightful)
I believe a court would find that clause unenforceable and sever it from the rest of the contract.
Quip on Contracts (Score:5, Insightful)
The "freedom to encumber" works is like the "freedom to punch someone" ... They are both 'freedoms' that only exist at the expense of others.
-- Gregory Maxwell, discussion on licensing
Re:Unenforcable (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Quip on Contracts (Score:5, Insightful)
That would be a good description of copyright, and thus copyright licenses, but not contracts in general. The terms of a contract are merely conditions which you require to be met before you will voluntarily give the other party some of your property, which you are in no way obligated to do. No matter what the terms may be, they impose no expense on others; one is always free to ignore the offer should one find the terms unpalatable. Licenses are similar, but the copyrights which give licenses their power are artificial social-engineering constructs which only exist at the expense of others.
Re:Quip on Contracts (Score:5, Insightful)
Fair, although contract law has recognised certain topics where contracts are not free for good reason - situations of some sorts are considered generally either coercive or one-sided enough that the public good is ill-served by the absence of some (or significant regulation). Landlord-tenant law is one example, although English common law has accumulated a long list of other circumstances and remedies to specific abuses, many of which we've kept in the US.
Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot (Score:2, Insightful)
Would you listen to an entire Britney Spears album if it could bring about world peace?
Depends, is "world peace" defined as "all humans exterminated" and is the Spears album the delivery method of said destruction?
Re:Math license (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It's not news, it's Slashdot (Score:2, Insightful)