Phobos licensing

Bill Baxter dnewsgroup at billbaxter.com
Fri Jun 1 16:24:39 PDT 2007


Phobos' std.loader contains this language in the source file:

  *   (ii) Any derived versions of this software (howsoever modified)
  *        remain the sole property of Synesis Software.

It doesn't define 'derived' so I suspect this could be interpreted quite 
broadly by the courts, particularly given the "howsoever modified" bit 
which seems to be saying "if you were thinking of interpreting 'derived' 
narrowly -- DON'T."

I don't think draconian licensing terms like these belong in the 
standard library.  I suggest we ask Synesis for more liberal licensing 
terms or else remove the file from Phobos until it can be reimplemented.

--bb



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