[boost] License updates for 1.30.2

From: Smith, Devin (DSMITH_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-09-18 14:55:40

A few comments with regard to placement of the license, references to
the license, etc.:

* Because the library authors are the licensors, Boost cannot change the
terms under which their libraries are licensed without permission.  If
you can't contact the library authors or they won't agree, Boost may
have to ship multiple Boost libraries with multiple licenses.

Arguably you could have all authors agree ahead of time that by
submitting their code, they're agreeing to license the code under any
future versions of the Boost license that is developed and agreed upon
by the Boost Moderators or whomever.  Then Boost could update all of the
licenses at once, having received permission to do so.  I'm not
comfortable with this for a variety of reasons including the loose
organizational structure of Boost and the lack of any requirement that
Boost contributors expressly agree to terms and conditions before
submitting their code.  I'd rather just see a reference by the author to
a specific version of the license in or in association with the code.

* I'm not sure whether anyone's arguing that new license versions should
apply to licensees retroactively, but Boost really can't and shouldn't
try to do that.  Licensees have accepted particular terms at the time
they downloaded the code.

* I recommend that Boost not refer to a license _only_ by URL, because
URLs can become unavailable for various reasons.

* As long as there's a way to identify the license that doesn't require
a URL to work, adding an additional URL reference to the license doesn't
hurt.

* I recommend the following:

  - Use the following text to refer to the license:

    Use, modification and distribution is subject to the Boost Software
License Version 1.0.

  - Include a copy of each version of the Boost license in use by a
    shipping library in the Boost distribution.  The version number
    should be identifiable both from the license file's name and its
    contents

  - Optionally add a URL to *stable* license text, e.g.

    Use, modification and distribution is subject to the Boost Software
License Version 1.0 (http://boost.org/LICENSE-1.0).

Devin

Devin Smith
Nixon Peabody LLP
101 Federal Street
Boston, MA 02110
T: 617-345-1123
F: 866-947-1623