[Pkg-isocodes-devel] iso-codes licensing

[Tobias Toedter]

Hi all,

I think we should try to clean up the license of iso-codes. Currently,
we have a mix of at least two licenses, which seems unfortunate. Take
these examples:

In most .xml source files, the headers says
"Released under the GNU License; see file COPYING for details"

Which "GNU License" do we mean? GPL? LGPL? Furthermore, there is no
file named COPYING in the tarball or in SVN. We distribute the license
LGPL 2.1.

On the other side, iso2pot.py, iso3166tab.py, and iso639tab.py all
state "Released under the GPL."

I would like to unify this.

The LGPL we currently distribute as our license text does allow using
the iso-codes data with non-free programs. As I understand it, if we
want to keep this possibility, we cannot use the GPL as license. Please
correct me if I'm wrong.

If we do not use the GPL, I'm wondering if it would be even easier to
license the package under a BSD-style license, e.g. the following
(taken from <http://www.debian.org/misc/bsd.license>):

+++++ BEGIN LICENSE +++++
Copyright (c) 2000 <SOMEONE>
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
   documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
   derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING
IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+++++ END LICENSE +++++

Opinions?

Regards,
Tobias

-- 
Tobias Toedter   | A nuclear war can ruin your whole day.
Hamburg, Germany |
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