Re: [OSCOM] OSCOM, OSI, open source, free software

Michelle Heizer wrote:
> Michael Wechner wrote:
>
>   
>> right, it's not legally binding from a  coutry or UN point of view, but how
>> do I think a country itself became legally binding? Who gave the US or
>> the Russians the right
>> to stick their flag into the moon and consider it their land?
>>     
>
> No one did. I don't agree that someone can just stake a claim and
> consider themselves to be the authority on something based on the fact
> that they are using common words in the English language. My point is
> that this organization cannot give me a legal definition of the term
> "open source" and they are not responsible for the open source licenses
> they list on their website.
>   

exactly, but this why a community agrees on something, otherwise one
will never be able to live together.
>   
>> this means you need to give a definition and then we can discuss it,
>> otherwise it
>> will be hard to discuss it if we don't know how it's defined.
>>     
>
> It's a self-defining term. "Open source" means just that and nothing
> more. We should leave the specifics to the licenses. Just like the term
> "open door". That means the door is open, but who I let in or out of my
> house is my own personal choice.


A door can be closed, but neverthless considered open ;-)
>  You are reading too much into the
> definition of a simple term made up of common words.
>
> As I've said before, I've used open source software that was not covered
> under the OSI definition. Just because the software doesn't fall under
> this definition, doesn't make it closed source.
>   

well, it does from the OSCOM point of view. But as you realize OSCOM
isn't authoritative re the rest of the world, but re itself. This 
mailing list
is part of OSCOM and hence OSCOM rules above this mailing list.
I think you need to accept this, otherwise people might not accept that your
house belongs to you and just enter it and do whatever they want and 
they might argue
the door was open ...

Michi
> Michelle
>
>   


-- 
Michael Wechner
Wyona      -   Open Source Content Management   -    Apache Lenya
http://www.wyona.com                      http://lenya.apache.org
[email protected]                        [email protected]
+41 44 272 91 61