[OS X TeX] OT: Licensing free software (i-Installer)

[Johann Beda]

	Personally I like all of the political aspects of the GPL, but if
you intent is to foster the widest possible adoption and uptake of the
technology, a BSD license might have some merit.

	In the case of the packages - you might have some problems.  If any
of the packages you distribute are GPL, then technically you should also be
making available the raw source code for them.  I do not really know the
details of the iInstaller system, but if the packages are being modified in
any way to make them work with the iInstaller, those modifications and the
iInstaller itself might be subject to whatever the license of the package
is.

	Given my perception of the scope of your project and the likely
users of your software (and my own personal bias) I would vote for GPL,
with perhaps a note explaining that people should contact the author if
they need access to the source under a different license (maybe you can
sell a license to Apple for big bucks?)

	Or another idea is to have people vote with their donation monies -
the biggest total donation after a set period would decide the license.


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* johann beda    <XNSName: =j-beda>    <http://pobox.com/~j-beda/> *

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