Re: [boost] Re: Re: Boost License Issues

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-11-30 11:07:36

"David B. Held" <dheld_at_[hidden]> writes:

> "John Maddock" <jm_at_[hidden]> wrote in message
> news:011f01c2979d$e3c6a020$cb5287d9_at_1016031671...
>> [...]
>> Hard to make any patent guarentees I think, as I'm sure the inventors of
>> the .gif format would attest to.
>
> Maybe the Boost moderators could solicit donations from companies
> with a vested interest in the success of Boost.  

Volunteering the boost moderators for more work is always the last
resort of the desperate <wink>

> In particular, it would be interesting if a legal advisory
> panel/committee or some such could be assembled on a purely
> voluntary basis to perform patent searches and and give advice on
> license terms.  It seems that if some well-heeled companies gain
> some benefit from using Boost, this is a reasonably small way they
> can contribute, with resources that they are already paying for
> anyway.

It would be very interesting if someone would emerge from the
community who was willing to set up and coordinate such a panel (hint,
hint).

And if Boost is a legal non-profit organization

It's not. Maybe it should be, though I'm not convinced.

> then maybe the donations could be tax deductible as well?  I have no
> idea.  Also, it would help Boost authors devise licenses that are
> fair, but perhaps offer a stronger level of protection to potential
> library users.  

It's very clear to me that we should be moving in the direction of a
single license, so that authors would for the most part not be
devising their own license text.

-- 
                       David Abrahams
   dave_at_[hidden] * http://www.boost-consulting.com
Boost support, enhancements, training, and commercial distribution