[Pkg-gridengine-devel] Licensing for old Spinbox widget

[Charles Kerr]

Hi Afif, yes I'm the same Charles. I haven't thought of this code in a long time and I'm happy that it's still in use. :)

I'm fine with the code being changed to a DFSG-compatible License, e.g. LGPLv3 or any later version.

Thanks for taking the time to look me up and ask!

Charles

On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 23:33:42 -0800, Afif Elghraoui <afif at ghraoui.name> wrote:

> Hi, Charles,
> I'm working on the gridengine cluster job scheduler package for Debian,
> and it uses your (if I got the email address right) spinbox widget for
> part of its graphical queue monitor. As I was doing a review of
> copyrights for the package, I noticed that the copyright for Spinbox
> does not appear to have been handled properly by the original gridengine
> developers when they included it in their product.
> 
> The license is not included in the gridengine sources, but I found a
> copy online at
> <ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/widgets/motif/spinbox/LICENSE.html> (which
> appears to not be a valid URL anymore). In any case, I copied the
> license text into the package's copyright file, but the below excerpt
> has some problems that prevent redistribution within Debian main.
> 
> Would you be willing to relicense the code under a more permissive
> license? If not, perhaps some relaxation of the original license terms
> would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, we will have to drop this
> component from the gridengine package.
> 
> ~~~
>  You may use this widget in your own works. You may also modify this
> widget to
>  create a work of your own. In either case, you must meet all the following
>  conditions:
>  .
>  Each copy of the work must be accompanied with a complete and
> unmodified copy
>  of the distribution of the widget that the work uses or is based on (This
>  widget's distribution is called spinbox[version].tar, where [version] is
>  whatever version the work uses). This must be included in the work's
>  distribution at no charge. Even works that incorporate a modified
> version of
>  this widget must include this complete and unmodified copy of the original
>  spinbox distribution because the modified version of the widget must meet
>  these conditions.
>  .
>  You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the
> widget is
>  used in it (or that the work is based on the widget, or that the work
> uses a
>  widget based upon this widget) and that the widget's use is covered by this
>  license. If the work during execution displays copyright notices, you must
>  include the copyright notice for the widget among them, as well as a
> reference
>  directing the user to the complete and unmodified copy of the distribution
>  that accompanies the work.
>  .
>  If you have access to internet e-mail, you must make a good faith effort to
>  notify the author of the widget describing the use to which the widget is
>  being put. The author's email address can be found in the widget's
>  documentation. Nothing will be done with this information; this condition
>  exists only to satisfy the author's curiosity regarding the usefulness of
>  this widget. :)
>  .
>  No other conditions need be met for the use of this widget in other works.
>  Works that use this widget or that are based on this widget may follow
>  whatever licensing scheme they please provided that the previous conditions
>  are met. These conditions are intended to:
>  ,
>  encourage distribution of this widget by including ``spinbox[version].tar''
>  with:
>  every work that uses this widget
>  every new work based upon this widget
>  and every work that uses a work based upon this widget.
>  .
>  prominently display the copyright and lack of warranty of this spinbox
> widget
>  in every distribution that includes the ``spinbox[version].tar'' file.
>  .
>  remove restrictions of the previous license (GNU) that might keep
> developers
>  of commercial software from using the widget; specifically, the
> propagation of
>  the GPL to any work that uses this widget and the obligation to provide the
>  ability to relink any work that uses this widget.
>  .
>  satisfy the author's curiosity whether or not this widget is of any use and
>  whether or not he should release more widgets.
>  .
>  You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the widget's complete source
>  code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
>  appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and
>  disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this
> license
>  and to the absence of any warranty; and distribute a copy of this license
>  along with the widget.
>  .
>  You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy of this
>  widget, provided that this does not conflict with the requirement that
> works
>  using either this widget or works based on this widget must provide a free
>  copy of the original widget. In addition, you may at your option offer
>  warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
> ~~~
> 
> Many thanks and regards
> Afif
> 
> 
> -- 
> Afif Elghraoui | عفيف الغراوي
> http://afif.ghraoui.name