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

[Bill Page]

Mike,

Thanks for your reply.

On November 20, 2006 11:34 AM you wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Nov 20, 2006 at 09:00:50AM -0500, Bill Page wrote:
> > Do you think I should resurrect my plan to just unilaterally
> > release Aldor as open source and see what happens?
>
> Please don't be stupid.  You can't release Aldor as open source
> because you don't have any right to do so.

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.

> Any illegal distribution of Aldor sources will, however, almost
> certainly scupper any chance of it ever being released under
> an open-source licence.
>

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).
 
> I understand your frustration at the slow progress on this,

Is "slow progress" the same thing as "no progress"? ;)

> but that doesn't give you the right to take something that isn't
> rightfully yours.

As I see it I would not be "taking" anything. If the desire was
clearly stated that the current owners did not want and did not
intend to make Aldor open source, then the situation would be
different. Anyway there are good reasons for me not to proceed
with what I suggested besides the legal ones. Clearly it would be
much better for everyone if aldor.org would simply proceed with
an open source license.

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...

> 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?

Regards,
Bill Page.