[Ubuntu-US-CA] CD Sleeves

[Jeremy Sturdivant]

On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 2:21 AM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 4:06 PM, Robert Wall <robertwall at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>> n Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 3:18 PM, Grant Bowman <grantbow at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Is the WTFPL really the most appropriate?
>>
>> In my opinion, yes. It accurately conveys the restrictions I wanted to
>> put on CD sleeve licensing (read: none), while avoiding overly
>> legalistic language. It's on the list of FSF free licenses (
>> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses )
>> and is used by packages shipped in various distributions (including
>> (according to the website; I have not verified this) Debian and thus
>> likely Ubuntu). Therefore, I believe it is appropriate from the
>> standpoints of my personal preference and legal soundness.
>>
>> The complaint I assume you might have about it is the F part of WTFPL.
>> We considered creating a new license with a different name, but
>> ultimately decided that license proliferation is a larger evil (and
>> more confusing, and more work) than what it would prevent.
>>
>
> <snipped>
>
> Interesting. I wasn't aware of WTFPL. Does anyone know how this is
> different from Public Domain?
>
> cheers,
> Sameer
> --
> Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor, Information Systems
> Director, Campus Business Solutions
> San Francisco State University
> http://verma.sfsu.edu/
> http://opensource.sfsu.edu/
> http://cbs.sfsu.edu/
> http://is.sfsu.edu/
>
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In theory, public domain removes the copyright, whereas WTFPL you
still have the copyright, you just give anyone permission to do
anything, including take the work and claim it as their own.
Additionally, some countries don't recognize "placing a work in the
public domain", while an arbitrary license like the WTFPL would mean
the same things were possible legally.

That's my understanding anyway. (Please don't hesitate to correct me
if I misread the law :-)