[Fsfe-france] pgAdmin is proprietary software

[Loic Dachary]

        Hi,

        I'm only suggesting to display the fact that pgAdmin is under
a proprietary license in a clear way in the web pages and in the
distribution. Could you please do that ?

        At present pgAdmin is a proprietary software hidden in a
deceptive Free Software wrapping. This deliberate strategy is not
honest, it is misleading for most pgAdmin users.

        Cheers,

Jean-Michel POURE writes:
 > Le Dimanche 18 Mai 2003 12:01, Loic Dachary a écrit :
 > > Pourrions nous nous concentrer sur la résolution du problème
 > > pgAdmin ?
 > 
 > Dear Loïc,
 > 
 > 1) The notion of Freedom is linked to the behavior of men
 > 
 > I believe that free software licenses can only be applied successfully when 
 > men share common ideals.
 > 
 > For example, MySQL is released under the GPL license. But I doubt MySQL has 
 > a 
 > real community of developpers. Furthermore, all patches applied to MySQL 
 > belong to a company. It clearly shows that MySQL would be entiteled to 
 > switch 
 > licenses whenever they want, for example in the case of a merge.
 > 
 > Please do not think I am trying to critisize MySQL. I only give the example 
 > of 
 > MySQL to show a side effect of the GPL.
 > 
 > In the case of pgAdmin, the team shares the ideals of Free Software, as far 
 > as 
 > I can tell. So don't  be worried.
 > 
 > 2) Men should be free to decide, a central organization is not always needed
 > 
 > After this discussion with Dave Page, I think that both of you can stay in 
 > touch and discuss on mailing lists about the best license.
 > 
 > The idea of switching licenses will evolve with the inclusion of pgAdmin in 
 > a 
 > PostgreSQL forthcoming release, and with your help a consensus can arise in 
 > the group.
 > 
 > 3) Publicity of pgAdmin license
 > 
 > As far as I am concerned, I agree to print on pgAdmin web site, that the 
 > license does not comply with the rules of Free Software yet, as defined by 
 > the FSF. 

        It does not comply with the Open Source criterions either. 
As a matter of fact any license that states it can be terminated without
notice is pretty much useless to anyone, even in a proprietary software
context.

 > Again, it is the choice of the group, not mine.

        It seems the project leader of pgAdmin has a different view of
the situation. Anyway, you can't claim authorship of pgAdmin and run
away from your responsibilities regarding the status of the license.
Unless I can grab a thread on the net where you advocate for pgAdmin
to become Free Software I'll have a hard time to believe you're not
responsible for the current state of things.

Dave Page wrote to Jean-Michel and Loic:
: Licence advocacy aside, our wish for pgAdmin (and it was Jean-Michel that
: convinced me of this!) is for it to:
: 1) Be free to *anyone* that wants to use it.
: 2) Be Open source in the 'source code available' sense.
: 3) Not be split into lots of versions/projects (such as Wiki). This is the
: reason for the clause that requires you to send us a copy of all changes
: you publish *unless* you want to keep your mdified version private in
: which case you can do what you like.
: 4) Not to be commercially exploited.

 > 
 > In my mind, there are various definitions of liberty.
 > 
 > Cheers,
 > Jean-Michel