On 1/11/07, David L Norris wrote:
> On Thu, 2007-01-11 at 08:52 -0800, James wrote:
> > However, I did not offer wrong advice.  Consumers/Users should always
> > use the GNU GPL as the authority, not the vendor/developer.  I have
> > seen, very often, vendors falsely interpreting the GNU GPL to deceive
> > consumers/users. Since you and Bill are fallable men, the
> > consumers/users of Swish-e should always default to GNU.ORG.
>
> The developers are the license authority for their software, not
> gnu.org.  gnu.org is the authority for FSF-owned software.  If someone
> (including the developer) is distributing GPL-covered software and is
> contradicting the terms of GPL then the resulting software isn't
> distributable at all.  It doesn't default back to whatever gnu.org says.

I agree.  But you (along with Peter) are misinterpreting what I have
stated.  I am focusing on the interpretation of the license, not the
holding of the license.  Swish-e is not the authority in interpreting
the license.  The documentation on GNU.ORG is.

> At any rate, as Peter says, Swish-e is not under the standard GPL.  In
> accordance with the GPL terms, the Swish-e license grants some
> additional freedoms to distributors which are not part of the standard
> GPL.  However swish-e can be reverted to the standard GPL at a
> distributors discretion.

The main problem seems to be with redistribution.  I am not focused on
redistribution because I do not, nor will I ever, have an interest in
redistributing someone else's work (especially as my own).

> Swish-e was previously under LGPL.  We switched to a non-standard GPL
> license based on our own, sometimes bad and sometimes good, experience
> in dealing with proprietary developers.  The FSF explains how to modify
> GPL in this way at gnu.org:
>  http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html
>  http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#LinkingOverControlledInterface

Thanks for the links.  I understand the difference between the LGPL
and the GPL.  It appears to me that the main "sticking point" is about
another piece of software linking to the Swish-e library.  This is the
debatable point, as has already been noted.  Be that as it may, again,
it doesn't affect me.  I don't have any other software linking to the
Swish-e library.

> --
>  David L Norris

Thanks for contributing, David.