[svlug] Fedora or Ubuntu for novis

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Alan DuBoff (aland at softorchestra.com):

> What if the liability limitiations and disclaimer was prefaced 
> in the license and the placed as a stipulation for the code to 
> be placed in the public domain?

Look, there's an inherent contradiction in terms, there:  If a property 
becomes public domain -- i.e., ownerless and non-ownable -- then the 
person who recently owned it, by definition, no longer has any ability
to impose limitations, disclaimers, or fsck-all else on the property,
because he/she is simply no longer a party to it.

Such conditions can have traction only if someone _does_ own the
property, and publicly issues access to rights normally reserved to the
owner (copying, creation and distribution of derivative works) on
condition of compliance with the conditions.  Otherwise, the recipient
can simply accept the copy of the work -- which is public domain, after
all -- and decline to enter into any agreement with what is now an
unrelated party.

> Is it not possible for us to have open and free code in the 
> sense that nobody owns it?

I'm quite sure I've said this several times, already, and the answer has
not changed:  No, not unambiguously, with any certainty of achieving
that result.  You _can_ fasten to an instance of your work a request
that future judges respect your wish that such a thing be deemed to have
happened -- and then hope your request gets granted in various places
over the next 95+ years (or whatever).  You might get various results in
various jurisdictions -- or not.  Me, I don't think that's a desirable
outcome, especially when you _can_ achieve all of your desired result
except for the "nobody owns it" ideological point, without
uncertainties, by using a one-line licence.

> And as I have stated several times, IANAL, but I am just trying 
> to figure out if I can have truly open and free code, one 
> without patents or copyrights on it.

I've answered your question to the best of my ability.  You mostly seem
to dislike the answer, in which case, please see Thomas Sowell
quotation.  ;->


> The U.S. Government shouldn't be allowed to be deceptive, IMO. 

If more people had voted for Shirley Chisholm in 1972, we might be a lot
closer to that goal.  As it is, I can only suggest submitting a patch.  ;->

> I want code to be free everywhere, not just in the U.S. Is that not
> possible?

Yes.  I've posted a 1-line licence that accomplishes that goal.  You
apparently dislike it on ideological grounds.  So, good luck.