Sybase Open Watcom Public License
Template:Infobox software license The Sybase Open Watcom Public License is a software license that has been approved by the Open Source Initiative.[1] It is the licence under which the Open Watcom C/C++ compiler is released.
The license has not been accepted as "free" under the Debian Free Software Guidelines, due to the license's termination clauses.[2][3]
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has stated that the license is not "free" as it requires the source to be published when you "deploy" the software for private use only.[4] In contrast, FSF's General Public License (GPL) does not require that a modified source code has to be made public when the software modification was only used privately without a public release of the software. This makes the Watcom license also GPL incompatible and a stronger copyleft license than the GPL and even the AGPL.
The Fedora project also considers the license as non-free, citing the FSF argumentation.[5]
History
Version 1.0 appears to have been written in 2002. It's publicly released no later than January 8, 2003, the date of the initial release of Open Watcom C/C++.
The draft of version 2.0 of the License was published on 20 January 2004. This version incorporated changes from Apple and made the licence less specific to OpenWatcom.[6][7]
References
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Debian Bug report #376431 RFP: openwatcom.
- ↑ Is the Sybase Open Watcom License ok?, thread on debian-legal mailing list (July 2006).
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Template:Cite FTP