Re: [Axiom-legal] Licensing Aldor (was: GPL vs. modified BSD)

[Mike Dewar]

On Mon, Nov 20, 2006 at 12:22:18PM -0500, Bill Page wrote:
> I realize that I have no "right" to do so. The point was that
> (perhaps) doing so would not have an negative consequences -
> at least not more negative than the current situation. Plus it
> continues to make the point that many people consider it critical
> to the future of both projects.
To release it you would need to select a licence.  How do you know it is
the licence that the owners of the code would choose?  

Its clear that some people (including, despite what you imply in the
rest of your message, myself) are keen to see Aldor open-sourced, but
you need to keep a sense of perspective.  Nobody has any right to demand
an open-source Aldor, and the kind of tactics that you seem to be
advocating are just going to alienate the very people who you need on
your side.

> Could you explain why you say that? What consequences do you see
> for an unauthorized distribution? Why would it stop Aldor from
> being properly licensed as open source? Once it is open source
> there is a possibility of many different distributions (provided
> of course that they compile with the licensing).
You are asking NAG and the other owners of Aldor to do you a favour,
which will take time and effort.  Do you really expect us to release
Aldor as open source if you try and force our hand with illegal actions?

> > I understand your frustration at the slow progress on this,
> 
> Is "slow progress" the same thing as "no progress"? ;)
No.  There has been progress as I explained.

> Really, how difficult is that for someone who really cares about
> the future of Aldor and Axiom to release Aldor as open source?
> I can not help but think that the delays are either deliberate or
> indicate a lack of interest on the part of the current owners.
> But I guess I am just being stupid...
Why do you say that?  If we weren't interested in an open-source Aldor
then we'd just say so.  Then I wouldn't have to respond to emails on the
subject every few months :-)

> > The current situation is that NAG has agreed in principle
> > to a proposal from Stephen Watt to release Aldor under a new 
> > licence.  We are now waiting for him to provide details of what
> > that licence should be.
> 
> Isn't that exactly the situation that you described in March last
> year?
No.  The proposal from Stephen was received at the beginning of this
month.

Kind regards,

Mike.

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    Mike Dewar                                 email: address@hidden
    Chief Technical Officer                    phone: (+44) 1865 518055
    NAG Ltd                                    fax:   (+44) 1865 310139
    Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Rd, Oxford, OX2 8DR

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