>On Thu, 6 Jul 2000, Tom Lane wrote:
>
> > The Hermit Hacker <scrappy@hub.org> writes:
> > > I would like to plug this in early next week, unless someone can
> > > see something major that makes them feel uncomfortable ...
> >
> > What are you trying to do Marc, foreclose a full discussion? I
> > think this is *way* premature.
>
> <snip>
>
From the feeling I got from those that have posted to the lists, what
>is in the one I posted last night is agreeable to *everyone*, both
>American and non-American, since it doesn't change the gist of the BSD
>license, it only extends the umbrella of warranty/liability over all
>of us ...
>
IMO, it is difficult to say that this is a "BSD license" unless there is a
general agreement by those who use the (current) BSD license to adopt it as
*the* BSD license. I fear that unilaterally changing the license, even if
that change is deemed necessary and correct, may cause unnecessary
confusion, and tends toward a competitive rather than cooperative atmosphere
for standard setting.
If the BSD license is flawed, then most projects using it should logically
want to change it along with everyone else. But without consulting
with/working with other major BSD license users, it is possible that
postgesql will face a situation where it will have to consider changing it's
"PostgreSQL license" to a new "BSD" license because the other BSD-license
users have established a standard license that adds to or modifies the
"Postgres license".
This comment is in line with several others that have voiced concern about
"yet another license". It simply seems more productive to proactively build
a consensus for a new standard by including other BSD license users in
discussions sooner rather than later.
Unless, of course, the license is so flawed that a new license needs to be
implemented immediately, without a such a larger and inclusive discussion.
Yet, the license has been flawed for years - and other BSD-license users are
in the same boat - wouldn't it be in their best interest to adopt an interim
license also?
John
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