Re: lynx-dev Licensing Lynx: Summary

[Doug Kaufman]

I don't want to get into the general discussion of this, but there are
some errors of fact here which shouldn't be left unchallenged in the
lynx-dev archive.

On Tue, 5 Oct 1999, Brett Glass wrote:

> Karen Lewellen notes that there are problems with RealAudio (which won't 
> work from DOS) and with some screen readers which rely on the PC BIOS:

RealAudio works with lynx on any platform that supports RealAudio.

The DOS port of lynx can be easily configured to use the PC BIOS.
 
> This is another common problem, and one of many we'd love to do something 
> about. However, it does require the licensing of code from Real Networks, 
> and we would (naturally) not have the right to reveal the source for the 
> licensed code. Thus, instead of producing a positive outcome for anyone 

The RealAudio G2 code is open source, with the SDK available for
download on their site.

> As for the legal status of Lynx: At least some of the source files that 
> comprise Lynx (though, thankfully, not all of it) appears to be 
> legitimately licensed under the GPL, though the package as a whole cannot 
> be. (Bellcore and CERN/W3C would be within their rights to protest the 
> release of the code under the GPL if they so desired, but only they -- not 
> a third party -- would have a cause of action.) Nonetheless, the GPL 

The CERN code was placed in the public domain. The copyright claim for
lynx is in the about_lynx file, not in the GPL file included in the
lynx distribution for reference. I am quoting it here for reference:

<P>Lynx is copyrighted by the University of Kansas and is distributed
<A HREF="COPYHEADER"
>without restrictions on usage or redistribution</A>
under the <A HREF="COPYING">GNU
General Public License</A>.

<P>Lynx was built over an early version of the Common Code Library
developed by the CERN WWW Project.  That code is copyrighted by CERN.
Lynx contains other sections of code that are copyrighted
by other institutions or individuals.
The Lynx copyright does not override or invalidate those copyrights.

                              Doug

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Doug Kaufman
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