3 ms·

Isn't this just the AGPL but more hardcore?

by rany_ 3y ago

rany_ 3y ago
From Wikipedia: > SSPL includes most of the AGPLv3 ... but modifies its provisions for software that is conveyed over a network—requiring that anyone who offers the functionality of SSPL-licensed software to third-parties as a service must release the entirety of their source code, including all software, APIs, and other software that would be required for a user to run an instance of the service themselves, under the SSPL. In contrast, the AGPL v3's equivalent provision covers only the licensed work itself. I can't believe they made the AGPLv3 seem moderate.
snvzz 3y ago
The AGPL is still open source / free software. SSPL is not.
- p_l 3y ago
  Both violate freedom 0, so I wouldn't call them free software. Open source, yeah, but not free software.
  - snvzz 3y ago
    How exactly does AGPL violate freedom 0? Or any of the 4 freedoms for that matter.
    - p_l 3y ago
      Sorry, Freedom 1, not 0. Marcan wrote it better than me https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30044019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30044019
      - snvzz 3y ago
        Unsurprisingly based on strict readings, and not spirit of the law (judges are human). At the end of the day, it does not prevent the four freedoms unless you're trying to curtail the four freedoms to begin with, much like the GPL and its clauses against patent-based workarounds or tivoization. And it is still a license, the only thing allowing anybody to do anything with that code. The suggested workaround attempts would never fly in court. Even separate legal entities would be deemed conspirators. Full disclosure: IANAL, and I do not like the AGPL at all, personally favoring MIT license.
        p_l 3y ago
        I'd argue that AGPL veers off from copyright law there into pure contract law. OTOH, most of the world seems to consign licensing entirely into contract law - the license is always a civil contract nothing more, which already causes some issues between reading the text in various jurisdictions. And local "spirit of the law" that backs the license also differs. Also pretty sure at least USA is place where strict reading are at least a viable court strategy, to my understanding.
- tzs 3y ago
  I don't see how AGPL does not run afoul of item 10 of OSI's definition of open source [1], which is that the license must be technology-neutral, which they describe as "No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface". AGPL has provisions that only apply when a remote user interacts with the program over a computer network. Those provision do not apply if a local user interacts with the program or if a remote user interacts with it by some means other than a computer network. To meet the requirements of item 10 those provisions should apply when any user interacts with the program regardless of whether they are local or remote and regardless of what particular technology is used to carry the communications between the user and the program. [1] https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd

Isn't this just the AGPL but more hardcore?

by rany_ 3y ago

Isn't this just the AGPL but more hardcore?

From Wikipedia: > SSPL includes most of the AGPLv3 ... but modifies its provisions for software that is conveyed over a network—requiring that anyone who offers the functionality of SSPL-licensed software to third-parties as a service must release the entirety of their source code, including all software, APIs, and other software that would be required for a user to run an instance of the service themselves, under the SSPL. In contrast, the AGPL v3's equivalent provision covers only the licensed work itself. I can't believe they made the AGPLv3 seem moderate.

snvzz 3y ago

The AGPL is still open source / free software. SSPL is not.

p_l 3y ago
Both violate freedom 0, so I wouldn't call them free software. Open source, yeah, but not free software.
- snvzz 3y ago
  How exactly does AGPL violate freedom 0? Or any of the 4 freedoms for that matter.
  - p_l 3y ago
    Sorry, Freedom 1, not 0. Marcan wrote it better than me https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30044019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30044019
    - snvzz 3y ago
      Unsurprisingly based on strict readings, and not spirit of the law (judges are human). At the end of the day, it does not prevent the four freedoms unless you're trying to curtail the four freedoms to begin with, much like the GPL and its clauses against patent-based workarounds or tivoization. And it is still a license, the only thing allowing anybody to do anything with that code. The suggested workaround attempts would never fly in court. Even separate legal entities would be deemed conspirators. Full disclosure: IANAL, and I do not like the AGPL at all, personally favoring MIT license.
      - p_l 3y ago
        I'd argue that AGPL veers off from copyright law there into pure contract law. OTOH, most of the world seems to consign licensing entirely into contract law - the license is always a civil contract nothing more, which already causes some issues between reading the text in various jurisdictions. And local "spirit of the law" that backs the license also differs. Also pretty sure at least USA is place where strict reading are at least a viable court strategy, to my understanding.
tzs 3y ago
I don't see how AGPL does not run afoul of item 10 of OSI's definition of open source [1], which is that the license must be technology-neutral, which they describe as "No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface". AGPL has provisions that only apply when a remote user interacts with the program over a computer network. Those provision do not apply if a local user interacts with the program or if a remote user interacts with it by some means other than a computer network. To meet the requirements of item 10 those provisions should apply when any user interacts with the program regardless of whether they are local or remote and regardless of what particular technology is used to carry the communications between the user and the program. [1] https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd