Re: The new apache license

["Sancho2k.net Lists" <lists@sancho2k.net>]

Nick Holland wrote:

> How many licenses do you want to have in OpenBSD?
> You want a "Usability guide", spelling out what parts of the tree are
> usable for what applications?  Oh, but that would have to have legal
> disclaimers itself, saying, "This is not the license, just one
> possible interpretation.  You have to follow the license you can't
> understand".  That's not what we are about.
> 
> We want OpenBSD to be usable.  For anything.  Anywhere.  By anyone. 
> What part of this is hard to understand?

Only to dumb end users.

Think about people that have the biggest problems with decisions like 
these. (The decision to fork based on licensing, for example.) What do 
they want? Software for free. Not 'free' software. At least, not in the 
glorious, open sense of the word. These users see software, they want 
software, and f--k whether or not there is some license in their way to 
hinder them getting to it. These are the same dimwits that love Windows 
so much they will forego any licensing restrictions and get it off 
bittorrent or whereever they can. Apache is their httpd of choice, so 
they just want to use it regardless of what complications this may 
impose. Licensing means nothing to them, legalities are annoying, but if 
anything gets between them and their software for free, they get up in 
arms about it.

The only people that will understand the reasoning are those that 
understand the freedom, value the freedom, and comprehend just how far 
these freedoms can go. And therefore, how restrictive it can be if 
things are not *precise* and *clear* and *uncluttered*. For example, if 
I need to set up a VPN server, I go right for isakmpd on openbsd because 
I know that it is open, it is free, and I am free to use it without 
having to consider what future difficulties my decision may pose. 
There's comfort in this principle, there's peace of mind, there's 
longevity, and there's security. Not aspects I'll find if I have to sort 
through complicated licensing clauses to ensure that I can use it for 
the purpose I envision. And I will do that, because I don't just blindly 
use whatever program I feel like. Things just aren't that simple anymore.

Now, if these concepts don't appeal to anyone, you are of course free to 
use an OS from a project that doesn't care about it. OpenBSD will 
continue making these decisions and be better off because of it.

DS