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diff --git a/nxcomp/README.on-retroactive-DXPC-license b/nxcomp/README.on-retroactive-DXPC-license deleted file mode 100644 index 563c82b69..000000000 --- a/nxcomp/README.on-retroactive-DXPC-license +++ /dev/null @@ -1,269 +0,0 @@ -On DXPC retroactive relicensing as BSD-2-clause -=============================================== - -TL;DR; In May 2015, all versions of DXPC released before version 3.8.1 (sometime -in 2002) have retroactively been re-licensed by all previous maintainers -of DXPC as BSD-2-clause. - -This README file gives an overview of the discussion thread that lead to -the retroactive re-licensing of DXPC. - -For the full discussion, see doc/DXPC_re-licensed_debug_784565.mbox in -this source project or #784565 on the Debian bug tracker [1]. - -light+love, -20150521, Mike Gabriel <mike.gabriel@das-netzwerkteam.de> - -[1] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=784565 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -STEP 1 -====== - -In May 2015, a serious license issue around the nxcomp code shipped in -this source project was raised and solved on the Debian bug tracker (thanks to -Francesco Poli and many others): http://bugs.debian.org/784565 - -""" -From: "Francesco Poli \(wintermute\)" <invernomuto@paranoici.org> -To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org> -Date: Wed, 06 May 2015 19:35:32 +0200 - -I noticed that the debian/copyright states: - -[...] -| Parts of this software are derived from DXPC project. These copyright -| notices apply to original DXPC code: -| -| Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided -| that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all -| such forms. -| -| THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED -| WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF -| MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. -| -| Copyright (c) 1995,1996 Brian Pane -| Copyright (c) 1996,1997 Zachary Vonler and Brian Pane -| Copyright (c) 1999 Kevin Vigor and Brian Pane -| Copyright (c) 2000,2001 Gian Filippo Pinzari and Brian Pane -[...] - -This license lacks the permission to modify the DXPC code. -Hence, the original DXPC code does not appear to comply with the -DFSG. And the nx-libs-lite is in part derived from DXPC code. - -This basically means that nx-libs-lite includes parts which are -non-free (as they are derived from non-modifiable code) and -are also possibly legally undistributable (as they are non-modifiable, -but actually modified). The combination with the rest of nx-libs-lite -(which is GPL-licensed) may also be legally undistributable (since -the license with no permission to modify is GPL-incompatible). - - -If there's anything I misunderstood, please clarify. - -Otherwise, please address this issue as soon as possible. -The copyright owners for the original DXPC code should be -contacted and persuaded to re-license under GPL-compatible -terms. -""" - -The issue has been settled by asking all recent maintainers (i.e., -copyright holders) of DXPC, to agree on considering the BSD-2-clause -license (as introduced in DXPC 3.8.1) retro-actively as the license of -all pre-3.8.1 DXPC releases. - -STEP 2: -======= - -Kevin Vigor, the (at that time being) latest known maintainer of DXPC -replied back immediately and provided the info given below. He also -stated that he agrees to applying BSD-2-clause retroactively to all -pre-3.8.1 releases of DXPC. - -""" -From: Kevin Vigor <kevin@vigor.nu> -To: Mike Gabriel <mike.gabriel@das-netzwerkteam.de> -CC: 784565@bugs.debian.org, [...] -Subject: Re: Bug#784565: nx-libs-lite: parts are derived from non-free code - -Hi Mike, et al, - - I am not the original author of dxpc, that being Brian Pane. However, - I took over maintenance circa 1999 and am still the primary maintainer - (though the project has effectively been dead for most of a decade - now). - - As you are aware, when I inherited the code, it was licensed under a - variant of the BSD license that did not include the 'with - modification' clause. To the best of my recollection, somebody from - the FSF contacted me circa 2001 regarding this and as a result, - subsequent releases were done under a standard 2-clause BSD license - with the modification clause. Again, to the best of my recollection, I - contacted Brian about this change and he offered no objection. - - Further, I recall distinctly that NoMachine contacted me and - explicitly asked permission before including DXPC code in NX, which I - happily granted with no new conditions beyond the BSD license already - in play. - - It is possible, though by no means certain, that I could dig up - ancient email to corroborate this account if necessary. However, I am - more than willing to publicly state that I believe NoMachine's use of - DXPC code to be both legal and ethical, and that my intent when - changing the license to 2-clause BSD was simply to clarity the - existing intent and that it ought therefore be considered retroactive. - - Yours, - Kevin Vigor - -[...] -""" - -STEP 3: -------- - -We were not able to dig out any recent mail address of Zachary Volner, -another of the DXPC copyright holders, but a phone number. - -On Friday, May 15th, I (Mike Gabriel) called that phone number and left a -message on - hopefully - Zach's voicebox, asking him to mail me, so I -could explain everything. He mailed back and later on posted the below -statement to the Debian BTS, also expressing his agreement to the -retroactive re-licensing of DXPC. - -""" -Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 10:05:38 -0500 -Subject: Re: Bug#784565: nx-libs-lite: parts are derived from non-free code -From: Zach Vonler <zvonler@gmail.com> -To: 784565@bugs.debian.org - -On Thu, 14 May 2015 05:55:42 +0000 Mike Gabriel < -mike.gabriel@das-netzwerkteam.de> wrote: - -> -> TL;DR; So here comes my actual question: are you (Brian Pane, Zachary -> Vonler, Gian Filippo Pinzari) ok with retroactively regarding -> pre-3.8.1 code of DXPC (that you probably all worked on at that time) -> as BSD-2-clause? Are you ok with others having taken or taking the -> pre-3.8.1 DXPC code and distribute it in a modified form? -> - - -> A yes from all of you as DXPC copyright holders is essential for the -> continuation of nx-libs development under a free license. This may -> also possibly be an issue for NXv4 in case parts of it have been -> derived from DXPC. - - -Yes, I am fine with considering the license change to be retroactive to -cover the time I was the maintainer. - -I have no objections to others distributing modified versions of that code. - -Zach -""" - -STEP 4: -------- - -By 18th May 2015, Brian Pane had not mailed back to us. Hoping he is well -and alive. Giving my personal gratitude to him for his work on DXPC back -in the nighties. - -However, Kevin found an old archive of the DXPC mailing lists, esp. a -post by Brian expressing openness to modifications of all DXPC code -versions. - -We refer to this regarding his consent on the re-licensing. - -""" -Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 15:11:42 -0600 -From: Kevin Vigor <kevin@vigor.nu> -To: Mike Gabriel <mike.gabriel@das-netzwerkteam.de>, 784565@bugs.debian.org, Francesco Poli <invernomuto@paranoici.org> -CC: [...] -Subject: Re: Bug#784565: nx-libs-lite: parts are derived from non-free code - -By the way, poking around the interwebs I find there is an archive of the old DXPC mailing list available at: - -http://marc.info/?l=dxpc&r=1&w=2 - -I think you will find this of particular interest: - - -http://marc.info/?l=dxpc&m=93093790813555&w=2 - - -List: dxpc -Subject: Re: future tecnologies -From: Brian Pane <brianp () cnet ! com> -Date: 1999-07-02 16:42:18 -[Download message RAW] - -Kevin Vigor <kvigor@eng.ascend.com> wrote: -> On 01-Jul-99 dxpc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu wrote: -> > Speaking of licensing, are you putting your 3.8.0 changes to the dxpc -> > code itself under GPL, or are they going to use the original dxpc's -> > licensing? -> -> No, as you can probably guess, I am no fan of the GPL. For stuff on -> this level, where my hacking is pretty simple and probably devoid of -> commercial value, I'll just release my changes to the public domain and -> give up even a copyright interest in them. -> -> Your and Zach's copyrights still stand, of course. -> -> I *think* that fact that we use the LZO library and API, but do not -> directly incorporate the code, allows us to escape the clutch of the GPL -> virus. -> -> btw, is there an original dxpc license? I haven't seen anything but a -> copyright notice, which to my non-lawyerly mind translates as "free to -> all the world as is, negotiate with copyright owner if modifying or -> including in some other product". - -The copyright banner in the Readme is all the documentation there's ever -been. My intent was to allow _any_ distribution, use, and modification -of the source, without imposing restrictions on the licensing style of -any system into which others might incorporate the code. We probably -should start stating this clearly in the distributions. - --brian - -[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] -""" - -STEP 5: -------- - -Last but not least, Kevin informed us that Gian Filippo Pinzari never -contributed any code to any of the official DPXC releases. So we assumed -that his copyrights on the code stem from the time where he - under the -NoMachine umbrella - worked on the code and should probably be associated -with the GPL-2 re-licensing of the code later on done by NoMachine -(which we did in the LICENSE file). - -It also appears, that there has been an incongruity between the copyright -statement in nxcomp/Misc.cpp and nxcomp/LICENSE for Gian Filippo Pinzari. -We used the copyright years (2000,2003) from nxcomp/Misc.cpp instead of -those originally given in nxcomp/LICENSE (2000,2006). - -""" -Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 19:16:25 -0600 -From: Kevin Vigor <kevin@vigor.nu> -To: Francesco Poli <invernomuto@paranoici.org>, - Mike Gabriel <mike.gabriel@das-netzwerkteam.de> -CC: 784565@bugs.debian.org, [...] -Subject: Re: [pkg-x2go-devel] Bug#784565: Bug#784565: nx-libs-lite: parts are derived from non-free code - -On 5/18/2015 4:14 PM, Francesco Poli wrote: -> If it is confirmed that Gian Filippo contributed to the forking of -> DXPC within the NoMachine project, but not directly to DXPC, then I -> think that he made his contributions available under the terms of the -> GPL v2 of the NoMachine project. If this is the case, no feedback -> should be required from his side. -I can confirm that Gian Fillippo never contributed directly to DXPC. -You'll note his name does not appear in the DXPC README, and never has. -""" |