[Koha] Fwd: LibLime ideas on a Koha Software Foundation

david at lang.hm david at lang.hm
Fri Oct 15 13:23:13 NZDT 2010


On Fri, 15 Oct 2010, MJ Ray wrote:

> david at lang.hm wrote:
>> what software in Ubuntu are you not allowed to modify?
>
> Please ask on an FSF or FSFE list.  It's off-topic here.

you are the one making the claim that the software shipped with Ubuntu is 
not allowed to be modified.

>> if you are looking for a opensource product with a not-for-profit corp and
>> a for-profit corp involved, mozilla is a huge example (although I assume
>> you will claim that firefox is not free software due to the fact that you
>> can't change it and keep the branding the same)
>
> I think Mozilla is different to the 40%-LibLime KSF in three ways:
>
> 1. Mozilla Corporation has no special rights to seats on the Mozilla
> Foundation board, as far as I read in its bylaws;
>
> 2. as you correctly guess, firefox is not free software because of the
> copyright licence of some files, which is why there's icecat & co;

it's not copyright license on the files, it's thr trademark enforcement.

In that case, I believe that you don't want Koha to be free software, 
because you don't want people to be able to claim something is Koha that 
you consider detrimental to the reputation of Koha.

there is nothing in the FSF definition that conflicts with the trademark 
issue. If that were the case, there isn't much of any significant software 
that would be considered free enough (including the linux kernel)

David Lang


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