[boost] Re: License updates for 1.30.2

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-09-17 16:43:36

Beman Dawes <bdawes_at_[hidden]> writes:

> At 01:40 PM 9/17/2003, David Abrahams wrote:
>  >Beman Dawes <bdawes_at_[hidden]> writes:
>  >
>  >> Sorry, I haven't been clear. It is a "stable link" to a specific
>  >> license that would be a disaster. It would negate our objective of
>  >> having a single Boost license for all Boost libraries, because when
>  >> the (even though rare) license changes occur, there would be sure to
>  >> be some copyright holders who weren't reachable, and thus the licenses
>  >> would diverge. Some would be version 1, some version 2, and so
>  >> forth.
>  >
>  >And how will not having a stable link to a specific license prevent
>  >that?
>  >
>  >> An important advantage of the suggested comment wording is that it
>  >> is not version specific. In effect, the copyright holder is saying
>  >> "use the version of the Boost license that is current at the time of
>  >> release, even if that version changes from release to release."
>  >>
>  >> The safe thing to do is to not mention a version by name.
>  >
>  >Oh!  If that's legal, I'm for it.  However, we may have trouble
>  >convincing authors to allow their source to be automatically
>  >re-licensed under new terms at the whim of whoever's maintaining
>  >http://www.boost.org/LICENSE
>
> Changes to the license must be very rare and carefully considered. It
> is really like a language standard - stability is necessary to get
> developers on board.

I still question the legality of licensing by reference to text which
may change dynamically.  And it may have a chilling effect.  It's not
just the authors who might be nervous, but the users as well.  If you
were a corporate lawyer, would *you* OK the use of source code whose
license might change at any time without notice?  I believe users must
be allowed to continue to use the code under the *original* licensing
terms they agreed to.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com