Post by Robin GareusPost by RDPPost by Robin Gareus.. if you really want license issues to be addressed, sit down,
elaborate and suggest clear license terms by yourself which could
become a candidate to resolve those overall issues.
Ok here it goes: I suggest to take the GPLv2. amend Section 1 with the
non commercial exception and change the name to LinuxSampler License.
Might it not be a good idea for this discussion to be taken here,
http://bb.linuxsampler.org/
.. with some drafts published ( wiki style ), so that such a beast
can be formalised?
wiki-style sounds good to me. As to where I don't care. Does
http://bb.linuxsampler.org/ facilitate editing a shared topic?
or a google-doc or page on wiki.linuxaudio.org - Can you set this up?
As for discussion while editing #lad IRC on freenode.net
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=lad
would be a good idea.
Well, you can simply start a topic on bb.linuxsampler.org and update your
(i.e. upper most) post with the latest version of the text. Of course I can
also make a separate forum section and make the specific thread with the
license text sticky (so that it stays on top).
Whether there is some kind of shared/wiki feature on the forum, I don't know,
it's a (more or less) standard phpbb installation after all. So you may check
that on the phpbb website.
Since the license is a fundamental issue of this project, I would rather
prefer to keep its discussions and working versions on our sites.
Post by Robin Gareus..to roll the ball a bit further, the goal is a proper valid license
* Under what conditions can I use Linuxsamler ?
use: GPL
Why? If there is going to be specific clear license text (whatever it will be
named) then that should apply.
Post by Robin Gareus* Can I change linuxsampler and redistribute the sources?
yes, that's how you send patches & contribute
Yes, but the commercial exceptions stay valid. So that means the distribution
might be OK (i.e. consider a public web server) but the user might face the
actual restrictions (requires permission for commercial products).
Post by Robin Gareus* Can I build and distribute binaries not for profit? Even if the
target host is a commercial system?
probably :) --- needs clarification
What exactly did you have in mind?
Post by Robin Gareus* Can automate compilation and binary distribution not for profit
...and accept donations for it? -- Even if the target host is a
commercial system?
probably not. --- needs clarification
If it is really a "donation" and not a hidden way to force the user charging
for something, then yes it should be OK. My understanding of a "donation" is
that the user is not forced in any way to actually donate/pay, right? However
there are some sites which claim to provide software for a donation, and you
have no way to get that specific software (version) without "donating". So the
latter is not actually a donation from my point of view.
Post by Robin Gareus* Who needs to accept the license?
both: distributor and user.
Sure, everybody who "does" something with the software needs to act according
to the license.
Post by Robin Gareus* Can I include binaries pre-installed on commercial hardware?
No.
Of course not. Commercial actors need prior permission to do so.
Post by Robin Gareus* Can I use GPLed parts of the source in a GPLv2 application?
I suppose so. --- needs clarification
No, the sources were released with commercial exception from day one (even the
proof of concept code where I was not even on board yet). When there is a
final license text, I would probably talk with the developers and update the
header of the individual files one by one to explicitly clarify for the source
code reader which exact terms apply to which source file. For certain source
files it would make sense to release them under pure GPL.
Post by Robin Gareus* What commercial licensing options are available?
-> send email to ...
Yes, or it would also be possible to create a commercial license text as well
and release the software dual licensed that way. But obviously that has less
priority than clarifying the non-commercial license first.
CU
Christian