From: dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce Subject: An Official XFree86 Position Statement Date: 6 May 1993 00:01:43 +0300 Approved: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu (Lars Wirzenius) Message-ID: <1s99vnINNt71@hydra.Helsinki.FI> [ Moderator's note: Please honor the followup-to and only post replies to comp.windows.x.i386unix, as that is the relevant group, not comp.os.linux --liw ] XFree86 Position Statement on Commercial Involvement in XFree86 Preamble -------- Whenever the issue of commercial use of or involvement with a FreeWare project comes up, it is an area of contention. We, the XFree86 Core Team, have decided to make this public statement on our position on two major issues that have been brought to us several times in recent weeks: 1) Commercial use of XFree86 software 2) Commercial involvement in the development of XFree86 Commercial Use of XFree86 Software ---------------------------------- XFree86 is, and always has been, FreeWare. By that term, we mean "Freely Redistributable Copyrighted Software". All of XFree86 bears the copyright notice from the MIT X11R5 public release, with the author(s) of each module being named in the copyright on that module. We place no restriction on the use of XFree86 released software for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, except that the copyright must remain intact. In other words, no one else can claim that they wrote our code. We ask nothing in return, except that we be given credit for our work (e.g. in product literature). This has been the policy of XFree86 since its inception; the original organizational mail to the beta testing group stated this explicitly. Any individual developing code for XFree86 must agree to these conditions - we will put no more restrictions on XFree86 code than those stated here. This position does NOT apply to alpha/beta (i.e. pre-release) XFree86 code. Such code is not to be released outside the XFree86 beta-testing team without permission of the Core Team. This of course does not apply to the original author(s); they are free to do as they wish with their own code. But only released code is subject to the freely-redistributable clause. Commercial Involvement in XFree86 Development --------------------------------------------- Until now, we have maintained a strict policy of not allowing commercial X developers to be involved in the XFree86 development/beta-test process. It was felt that this would compromise the FreeWare nature of the software. The XFree86 Core Team, and some of the other developers, have over the past year, developed a good technical rapport with several commercial X development organizations, including SGCS, MetroLink, NCR, USL, and SCO. A good dialogue has evolved, and in fact, NCR has contributed code back to XFree86. Recently we have had requests to allow commercial X organizations to be involved in development and testing. After much soul-searching, we have decided to change our policy and allow this to occur. We will place the following restrictions on any commercial involvement in XFree86 development: 1) Any code contributed to XFree86 must be no more encumbered than the rest of XFree86 (i.e. the MIT copyright notice, naming the appropriate author(s)). 2) No unreleased XFree86 code (alpha/beta-test) may be released in a product, except for code developed by that organization. 3) The XFree86 Core and Beta teams will not make any changes to meet the specific needs of any given vendor; if product- specific changes are required, the vendor can either make them independently of XFree86, or they can generalize it and contribute it to XFree86. 4) When any commercial X developer joins the XFree86 development team, this information will be disseminated to the rest of the development team. In addition, such information will be released to any inquiring part, upon request to the XFree86 contact address. 5) There will be no membership in the XFree86 Core Team by a commercial X developer. XFree86 is, and always will be, a FreeWare project. Those who decide the direction of the project should stand to gain no monetary profit from any decisions made. We feel that these restrictions put everyone on an even footing; XFree86 development policies will apply equally to everyone. This offer is open to all commercial developers. There are no favorites being played here. Commercial developers who wish to join the team should send mail to < xfree86@physics.su.oz.au>, and are asked to identify themselves as commercial developers and indicate that they have read and accept these conditions. Discussion ---------- People may wonder why we are taking these positions. We feel that commercial use of XFree86 can only enhance the reputation of the project, and can get it into the hands of people who could not otherwise get it. The question continually comes up "Doesn't it bother you that others profit from your work?" The answer is an unqualified "No, it does not bother us." Commercial use of our work only broadens the user base, it does not take the product away from us or our users. We had no intention for this to be a money-making endeavor; it is fun, educational, and useful to many people. The only payment we get is prestige and reputation, and we desire nothing more. People may wonder why we would let commercial developers get involved in XFree86 development. We have been working on an informal level with many of our commercial peers on a variety of technical issues for quite a while now. We have no reason to distrust them - just the opposite. Because of what we have already done together, we are inclined to trust them. XFree86 stands to gain a great deal from this: an additional group of experienced developers; helping to support our work to the X Consortium, which we cannot afford to join; and a tacit "validation" of our work, outside the Internet arena, where FreeWare may not have the reputation it does on the net. We feel that any commercial organization that would willingly contribute source code to a FreeWare project, knowing full well that this code may be used by competitors, deserves the same rights of participation as any non-commercial developers. Conclusions ----------- We are certain that there are purists who will disagree with what we are doing. We do not apologize for what we do - we know it is not for everyone. Anyone who wishes to discuss this can do so in the comp.windows.x.i386unix newsgroup, or can send mail to our contact address at < xfree86@physics.su.oz.au>. -- David Wexelblat < dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com> (908) 957-5871 Fax: (908) 957-5627 AT&T Bell Laboratories, 200 Laurel Ave - 3F-428, Middletown, NJ 07748 XFree86 requests should be addressed to < xfree86@physics.su.oz.au> "How many times must good men die? How many tears will the children cry, 'til we suffer no more sadness? Oh, stop the madness. Stop all the madness." -- Molly Hatchet, Fall Of The Peacemakers.
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce From: news@cbnewsj.att.com Subject: Stop sending me your questions! Message-ID: <1993May27.180208.23567@klaava.Helsinki.FI> Date: Thu, 27 May 1993 18:02:08 GMT Approved: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu (Lars Wirzenius) Folks, there's a reason the line: XFree86 requests should be addressed to < xfree86@physics.su.oz.au> appears in my .signature. I do not run Linux; most of the time I can't answer the Linux-specific questions that people send me. The XFree86 contact address exists for a reason. So does the comp.windows.x.i386unix. The only reason I read comp.os.linux at all because of the astounding volume of mis-information that circulates here about XFree86. This stuff doesn't even belong in this newsgroup. And BTW - the name of the software is XFree86. Not Xfree, XFree, Xfree86. In particular, don't leave off the '86'. I get questions from people who think 'XFree' runs on Suns. Please don't perpetuate this myth. -- David Wexelblat < dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com> (908) 957-5871 Fax: (908) 957-5627 AT&T Bell Laboratories, 200 Laurel Ave - 3F-428, Middletown, NJ 07748 XFree86 requests should be addressed to < xfree86@physics.su.oz.au> "How many times must good men die? How many tears will the children cry, 'til we suffer no more sadness? Oh, stop the madness. Stop all the madness." -- Molly Hatchet, Fall Of The Peacemakers.