Re: [boost] Draft of new Boost Software License

From: Ronald Garcia (garcia_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-06-25 14:17:35

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003, Beman Dawes wrote:

> Thanks to Dave Abrahams, Diane Cabell, Devin Smith, and Eva Chen, we now
> have a pretty close to final draft of a new Boost Software License.
>
I am glad to hear that some folks have been working on this.  These issues
are quite important and might make any legal issues surrounding Boost
easier, especially as it gains visibility and use.

> This draft represents a lot of discussion between the lawyers and Boost
> moderators, and both groups are quite happy with the results. So now it's
> time to open it up for comments from the whole Boost community.

In reading the license, I think the definition of "Software" needs to be
broadened to explicitly include the documentation, test suites, etc.
see:
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
for an example. Additionally, the BSD license goes into even more detail
with respect to software, binaries, etc.

I feel that it's good to have a human-readable license, but it
seems more pressing to ensure proper coverage of the legal issues, even
if it means that the license gets a little longer.  In this specific
case where the license will (hopefully) cover much of Boost, I
presume that it will be placed in the distribution and all files covered
mentioned by reference.  In that case, it seems fine to me for the
license to be longer and more explicit.

Again, much kudos to all who have been working on this.

ron