Re: [ProgSoc] PINE Being Free?

[Anand Kumria <wildfire@nospam.progsoc.uts.edu.au>]

On Wed, Apr 17, 2002 at 06:05:11PM +1000, Michael Miller wrote:
> 
> 
> Can I ask why people don't see PINE being free?

Freedom in this sense is thr right to distribute modified binaries.

Why is this important?

For a distribution like Debian it is vital because very few programs
conform to the requirements of the whole system. Things like: ensuring
that all program obtain their paper size from /etc/papersize, /etc/mailname.

Using the same liblockfile library to ensure NFS works okay. Having a version
of pine in /usr/bin/ is a violation of the licence!

> Maybe I'm missing the point. It looks like the license is trying to stop
> people for ever charging for it. And the Legal Notice made a big effort
> towards this regard.
> 
> Can someone explain why it aint free or point to some links please. 

As well as restricting distributing modified binaries it also restricts
binaries on the same media. So if you are selling a CD (or giving a friend
a floppy disk) the license of the software must be compatible [*] with Pine.

Anand

[*] It's been quite a while since I've checked the exact restriction.

-- 
 `` We are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think.
 When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never
 leaves. '' -- Buddha, The Dhammapada

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