Full Disclosure mailing list archives
Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws?
From: Alexandre Dulaunoy <alexandre.dulaunoy () ael be>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 09:03:35 +0200 (CEST)
On Fri, 29 Aug 2003, Darren Reed wrote:
In some mail from Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu, sie said:There's just one little problem with your logic: Unless the law specifically prohibits disclaimer of liability, there's no= thing illegal about a clause that does so. And in the best "be careful what yo= u wish for, as you may get it", you might want to go back and re-read clause 11 = and 12 of the GPL, Version 2, and ask yourself if *ANY* GPL'ed software would ge= t released if that clause was illegal. If it was in fact illegal to discla= im liability, clause 7 would totally prohibit you from distributing it *AT A= LL*. Then there's the issue of mom-n-pop software shops and small consulting firms - they can't hide behind a "we're giving it away for free" clause i= n the hypothetical law, but they'd be insane to stay in business without softwa= re liability insurance. How many insurance companies are offering *THAT* at rates a 2-5 person consulting firm can afford?I, for one, would not cry if the law made it impossible to sell or provide GPL'd software to people because it could not be provieded with a disclaimer.
For your information, the GNU General Public License is applicable in the act of distribution. Th warranty can be an additional contract between the buyer of a service and the consulting firm. The GNU General Public License is a method to protect the four freedoms of free software. It's not a method to define a warranty...
Sooner or later the software industry needs to grow up and take responsibility for the crap that it unloads onto the world, pretending it to be a product worth using. GPL software especially.
Don't mix the license used and the quality of a software product, this is not linked. They are crappy software under the GNU GPL and they are excellent software under the GNU GPL. thanks, adulau. -- -- Alexandre Dulaunoy (adulau) -- http://www.foo.be/ -- http://pgp.ael.be:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x44E6CBCD -- "Knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance -- that we can solve them" Isaac Asimov _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html
Current thread:
- GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? dhtml (Aug 26)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Valdis . Kletnieks (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Fabio Gomes de Souza (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Valdis . Kletnieks (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Ron DuFresne (Aug 28)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Darren Reed (Aug 28)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Alexandre Dulaunoy (Aug 29)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Jeremiah Cornelius (Aug 29)
- Message not available
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Jeremiah Cornelius (Aug 29)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Darren Reed (Aug 30)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Valdis . Kletnieks (Aug 27)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? levinson_k (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Goncalo Costa (Aug 27)
- RE: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Nick FitzGerald (Aug 27)