Does SCO distribute XFce or XFce4?

[Rich Shepard]

On Fri, 27 Feb 2004, Brian J. Tarricone wrote:

> what it boils down to is that fyodor _owns_ the copyright on the nmap
> code, so he can pretty much do with it whatever he damn well pleases,
> including adding or removing restrictions at will.  at the point that you
> add restrictions, however, an argument can be made that it isn't truly
> licensed under the GPL anymore.

Brian, et al.:

  Standard disclaimer: IANAL.

  However, there is a big difference between a copyright and a license.
Specifically:

>From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :

  Copyright \Cop"y*right\, n.
     The right of an author or his assignee, under statute, to
     print and publish his literary or artistic work, exclusively
     of all other persons. This right may be had in maps, charts,
     engravings, plays, and musical compositions, as well as in
     books.

     Note: In the United States a copyright runs for the term of
           twenty-eight years, with right of renewal for fourteen
           years on certain conditions

>From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :

  License \Li"cense\ (l[imac]"sens), n. [Written also licence.]
     [F. licence, L. licentia, fr. licere to be permitted, prob.
     orig., to be left free to one; akin to linquere to leave. See
     Loan, and cf. Illicit, Leisure.]
     1. Authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act;
        especially, a formal permission from the proper
        authorities to perform certain acts or to carry on a
        certain business, which without such permission would be
        illegal; a grant of permission; as, a license to preach,
        to practice medicine, to sell gunpowder or intoxicating
        liquors.

  The way I, a mere citizen, understand the above is that the holder of the
copyright may decide who may "print and publish" his work. A license (in
this case, the GPL) describes the terms and conditions under which the
"printing and publishing" can acceptably be done.

  This is one reason why we see mention so often that GPL'd software is
_not_ in the public domain but is intellectual property under the direct
control of the copyright holder.

Rich

-- 
Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>