Re: proposed improvements to PostgreSQL license - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Philip Warner
Subject Re: proposed improvements to PostgreSQL license
Date
Msg-id 3.0.5.32.20000707015929.0262e510@mail.rhyme.com.au
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: proposed improvements to PostgreSQL license  (Ron Peterson <rpeterson@yellowbank.com>)
List pgsql-general
At 10:19 6/07/00 -0400, Ron Peterson wrote:
>
>This has happened in PostgreSQL's own history.  How long did it take for
>the project to get picked up again?  How long did it take for the people
>who picked it up to familiarize themselves with the code?  How long did
>it take before the community at large developed any confidence in the
>project's viability?  How much talent was lost?  How many ideas were
>lost?
>
>I believe developers assurances about their desire to maintain
>PostgreSQL as an open source project are sincere.  But I am not going to
>continue investing my time in PostgreSQL unless those assurances are
>backed by contractually binding verbage.

Short of employing the core developers directly, and giving them good
enough conditions to ensure that they stay with you, I don't think you can
acheieve your ends. No license change will help. All a licence does is
tells you what *you* can do with the software.

GPL or BSD, if someone buys up the core developers, their replacements will
have a steep learning curve. Your only choice here is to invest local
talent from your company in the development project so that if the core
developers do leave, then there is a higher chance of a quick uptake.

Or have I missed something? Did you have some kind of "contractually
binding verbage" in mind?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Philip Warner                    |     __---_____
Albatross Consulting Pty. Ltd.   |----/       -  \
(A.C.N. 008 659 498)             |          /(@)   ______---_
Tel: (+61) 0500 83 82 81         |                 _________  \
Fax: (+61) 0500 83 82 82         |                 ___________ |
Http://www.rhyme.com.au          |                /           \|
                                 |    --________--
PGP key available upon request,  |  /
and from pgp5.ai.mit.edu:11371   |/

pgsql-general by date:

Previous
From: Richard Poole
Date:
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Re: Revised Copyright: is this more palatable?
Next
From: The Hermit Hacker
Date:
Subject: Re: PostgreSQL & the BSD License