Re: [boost] BOOST license & GPL

Subject: Re: [boost] BOOST license & GPL
From: Artyom Beilis (artyom.beilis_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-04-02 11:37:32

>>>> If I understand it correctly, the copied boost code is now licensed >
>>>> under
>>>>>
>>>>> GPLv3
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Does their code distribution (as a package or VCS) contain BSL text?
>>>> Do the BSL-licensed files still contain the copyrights and a link to
>>>> the BSL?
>>>
>>>
>>> The license statement of Kicad is: 'it is licensed under GPLv3' - the BSL
>>> ist not mentioned.
>>> Kicad has copied all files from the boost lib into one file - including
>>> all
>>> copyrigth statements + BSL
>>> (all put at the top of the file) - and a new library, which is now
>>> intergral part of kicad, was created.
>>
>>
>> Where have they included the full text of the BSL? I can't find it.
>>
>> http://docs.kicad-pcb.org/doxygen/libcontext_8cpp_source.html
>
>
> Then that's a problem. BSL requires a copy of the license to be included.
>
>

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer...

As regular developer I see the licensing very very clear. There is clear link
pointing to the license so I don't see anybody being stripped of his rights
as the license of the file is very clear and easy to get.

If the author of the project forget to include the text of the license or
embed it into the source code or mistakenly thought that what he
did is more than enough you are welcome to write a patch
and send one to the author or open the ticket mentioning that
the license text should be included explicitly.

Note it was clear from the code that the author
didn't want to hide someones copyrights or claim
his ownership on the code but probably did not all
the bureaucracy 100% correctly.

Bottom line:

1. There are no "brutal" violations but rather probably improper reuse
of the code
    licensed under BSL - because it didn't include full text of license.
2. If you want your name to be mentioned **in front page** as one of
copyright owners
    choose 4 clause BSD license instead of BSL (and... nobody will use
your code)
3. If you distribute your code under BSL... expect that others will
   " prepare derivative works of the Software " as mentioned in the license

Artyom Beilis