Similar discussion list but not only for Europe?

[simo]

On Mon, 2009-03-09 at 08:37 -0400, Alfred M. Szmidt wrote:
> > I'm puzzled - you say it is FUD; but then you seem to agree with him.
>    > How is it FUD?
> 
>    The implication is that the OSI is not interested in software freedom
>    because it disagrees with the FSF on one corner-case. This is
>    historically and factually inaccurate.
> 
> This "corner case" is clear cut, the NASA Open Source agreement
> requires any contribution to be "original", one cannot take bits and
> bobs from another project and incopreate it into a NASA Open Source
> licensed project.

The GNU GPL also prevents some free software to be used.

> This is clearly a non-free license, since it violates freedom 3, "the
> freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and
> modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole
> community benefits.".

No, while I tend to agree with the FSF views, this is clearly just
political agenda.
The NASA license is *bad* but it is clearly *free software*, you have
all the freedoms you have with the GPL, it's just that the compatibility
list is an empty set.

> The OSI disagrees with this freedom, and have decided to list a
> license that is not a free software license amongst its approved
> licenses.  

No the OSI has been realistic this time. The OSI was wrong in accepting
the original Apple License for example, but the NASA license is just
stupid, but yet a free software license.

If I were OSI I wouldn't have approved it on political grounds (it's
useless as it creates a niche of free software that cannot be shared
with other projects), but certainly not under the definition of free
software.

> I fail to see what is historically inaccureate, or factually
> incorrect.  The OSI has listed, and lists licenses that do not adher
> to the four freedoms of software, the only conclusion is that they do
> not care about software freedom.

You are just being unreasonably zealot, but that's as usual.

It's a pity that people have to keep doing damage control every time you
write in public tho...

Simo.