Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 17:53:08 -0700 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: chat@freebsd.org Subject: GNU/FreeBSD? Not by that name Message-ID: <4.1.19990225172551.04025880@mail.lariat.org>
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Just scanned the Debian mailing list threads regarding their interest in creating what they are calling "Debian GNU/FreeBSD". Contrary to my initial concerns, at least some of the people who are proposing such an effort have an honest desire to develop something good, as opposed to GPL-izing or sabotaging FreeBSD. However, the FreeBSD community should not give its blessing or support to such a project unless two simple conditions are met. These conditions would avoid problems with "religious wars" and/or with code being licensed in a way which violated the authors' wishes. First, FreeBSD Inc. should not allow the use of the FreeBSD trademark if the resulting product were called "GNU/FreeBSD." The name "GNU/FreeBSD" would imply that Richard Stallman and the FSF, which continue to disparage the various BSD efforts, were somehow responsible for the project and/or "came first." (The "GNU/Linux" moniker, IMHO, represents Richard Stallman's attempt to jump in front of the open source parade and claim that he is leading it and dictates the rules for it.) Second, the licensing of code from FreeBSD (or enhancements to FreeBSD) under the GPL would defy the wishes of many, if not most, contributors to the project. As Jordan so eloquently puts it in the FreeBSD Handbook: "The goals of the FreeBSD Project are to provide software that may be used for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of us have a significant investment in the code (and project) and would certainly not mind a little financial compensation now and then, but we're definitely not prepared to insist on it. We believe that our first and foremost "mission" is to provide code to any and all comers, and for whatever purpose, so that the code gets the widest possible use and provides the widest possible benefit. This is, I believe, one of the most fundamental goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically support." Unlike the FSF, the Debian group DOES consider the BSD licenses to fall within its definition of "free software" (see http://www.debian.org/social_contract). In fact, they're specifically cited as acceptible to that group in Debian's "Free Software Guidelines." Therefore, there should be an agreement that enhancements to the FreeBSD code base should be licensed under a BSD license rather than the GPL. The FreeBSD trademark should not be used, and FreeBSD's Core Team should refuse to incorporate modifications from that project, unless enhancements to existing FreeBSD code were licensed under a BSD license. BSDI should take a similar stance with regard to the use of the trademark "BSD," especially since it would not want to be precluded, by the GPL, from incorporating some of the code in its own products. On the other hand, contributions and improvements made under a BSD license should be warmly welcomed. If these two conditions were met, I think it might be not only feasible but beneficial to have a "Debian FreeBSD" or a "Debian BSD." Just my 2 cents. --Brett Glass To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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