Re: [gentoo-project] What should the default acceptable licenses be?

[Thomas Deutschmann <whissi@gentoo.org>]

[-- Attachment #1.1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2250 bytes --]

On 2019-01-29 18:53, Alec Warner wrote:
> 1) Do the users not currently have a choice today? (e.g. do we need 
> to populate the @nonfree license set?)

Yes and no :-)

In theory, users currently have a choice. However we set

> ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA"

by default. This means:

The package manager will accept _any_ license except licenses within
EULA license group.


> 2) Are the users aware of the choice? I suspect this feels closer to 
> your intent. While its perhaps technically possible to make an 
> informed decisions on licensing we do not force users to make a 
> choice, and so many accept the default.

Nobody can answer that question for sure. We can only take Brian's mail
as data point that at least new users aren't aware.

Most users will notice once they have to install a package which is
using an EULA. Famous package was www-plugins/adobe-flash or drivers.


> 3) Some Gentoo community members find the existing default
> problematic because it does includes nonfree software, and think
> Gentoo should ship with only free software by default.
> 
> I think if there isn't a @free-only (or -@nonfree) item we should do 
> the work to make that possible (so ensure 1 is implemented.)
Stop. Maybe we need to split this discussion:

SSPL is something new from my P.O.V. I am not aware of any other license
which has special requirements when you decide to run the licensed
software for someone else (or like you call it nowadays, "as a service").

So even if SSPL will get OSI approval (and MonogDB upstream expects
approval according to their FAQ) I am not sure if package manager should
merge such a software without further prompts.


My understanding is that some other developers want to go one step
further and change

> ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA"

into

> ACCEPT_LICENSE="@FREE"

I am not (yet) part of this motion.

But keep in mind: If this motion will end up with

> ACCEPT_LICENSE="@FREE"

we will get back to this topic in case OSI will approve SSPL in which
case we would have to add SSPL to OSI-APPROVED which is part of FREE
group...


-- 
Regards,
Thomas Deutschmann / Gentoo Linux Developer
C4DD 695F A713 8F24 2AA1 5638 5849 7EE5 1D5D 74A5


[-- Attachment #2: OpenPGP digital signature --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 618 bytes --]