[wplug] Is XFree86 4.4 worth it?

[Bill Moran]

Dave Neuer wrote:

<snip>

> Also, advertising clauses are just annoying. Imagine
> if you used "old-BSD library", some XFree86 4.4 libs,
> some old apache libraries and 5 other software
> libraries w/ "old-BSD style licences" in a product,
> and wanted to take out a quarter-page ad in
> LinuxJournal for your product, but one half of your
> quarter-page ad read:
> 
> "This software includes software developed by the
> Regents of the University of California, Berkely.

This is as bad as the accusation that the GLP is "viral".

The BSD license does not force you to give credit to everyone
in advertising, only in the code.  In fact, it _prohibits_
you from using the name of UC Berkely in advertising.

> I don't see why this controversy is controversial. I
> personally won't run an X server than can't legally be
> shipped w/ GNOME, my desktop environment of choice.

That's your decision.  That's freedom.

> In the meantime, of course, people can use whatever
> software license they want for their own software, and
> users can choose to use whatever software they want if
> they are willing to accept the license terms, even if
> they stipulate that you have to amputate your left
> arm. But don't expect your vendor to ship you software
> that they legally cannot.

See ... that's kind of crazy.  I can't imagine why
<arbitrary distribution x> can't ship with that license.
I mean, all they have to do is put "portions of this
system developed by X ..." in the "about" program.  But,
then again, I'm not a laywer ... perhaps there's some
insiduous side to this that I'm not seeing.

OpenBSD is even stranger to me.  They don't even install
X by default, so they don't have to do anything special,
as X is only an addon program and not technically a
part of OpenBSD.

Oh well.  Like you said, there'll be a fork, then people
will choose sides and life will go on.  Same process that
seperated NetBSD from FreeBSD, and OpenBSD from NetBSD,
and DragonflyBSD from FreeBSD.  I wonder if we'll run
out of names for forks one day?

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com