SNMP++ license

[Pau Garcia i Quiles]

Hello,

I am starting to package the SNMP++ library
(http://www.agentpp.com/snmp_pp3_x/snmp_pp3_x.html), which has its own
license. I would say the license is DFSG-compliant but I would like
confirmation. Please read it and tell me what you think. Thank you.

This is the license:

============
SNMP++v3.2.22
-----------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2001-2007 Jochen Katz, Frank Fock

This software is based on SNMP++2.6 from Hewlett Packard:

Copyright (c) 1996
Hewlett-Packard Company

ATTENTION: USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and/or sell this software
and/or its documentation is hereby granted without fee. User agrees
to display the above copyright notice and this license notice in all
copies of the software and any documentation of the software. User
agrees to assume all liability for the use of the software;
Hewlett-Packard and Jochen Katz make no representations about the
suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided
"AS-IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. User
hereby grants a royalty-free license to any and all derivatives based
upon this software code base.

============

[a***@gmail.com]

Post by Pau Garcia i Quiles
Hello,
I am starting to package the SNMP++ library
(http://www.agentpp.com/snmp_pp3_x/snmp_pp3_x.html), which has its own
license. I would say the license is DFSG-compliant but I would like
confirmation. Please read it and tell me what you think. Thank you.
============
SNMP++v3.2.22
-----------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2001-2007 Jochen Katz, Frank Fock
Copyright (c) 1996
Hewlett-Packard Company
ATTENTION: USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and/or sell this software
and/or its documentation is hereby granted without fee. User agrees
to display the above copyright notice and this license notice in all
copies of the software and any documentation of the software. User
agrees to assume all liability for the use of the software;
Hewlett-Packard and Jochen Katz make no representations about the
suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided
"AS-IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. User
hereby grants a royalty-free license to any and all derivatives based
upon this software code base.
============

I'd say it's free. The last sentence seems like an interesting
phrasing of a copyleft clause.
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[Ben Finney]

Post by Pau Garcia i Quiles
ATTENTION: USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and/or sell this software
and/or its documentation is hereby granted without fee.

All the necessary freedoms are specified here; good.

Post by Pau Garcia i Quiles
User agrees to display the above copyright notice and this license
notice in all copies of the software and any documentation of the
software.

So long as "display [the notice] in all copies of the software" means
to have the text of the notice in the source code, this is fine.

If it could mean "cause the program to display the notice when
executed", that's a non-free restriction. I don't think such an
interpretation is valid though.

Post by Pau Garcia i Quiles
User agrees to assume all liability for the use of the software;

Possibly problematic. If Support Company FooBar sells the software and
offers a warranty, then requiring the user (meaning "recipient of this
work", I suppose) to accept all liability is a non-free restriction.

It would be best if this phrase wasn't in the terms at all, because
the immediately-following disclaimer is perfectly clear without
placing any restrictions.

Post by Pau Garcia i Quiles
Hewlett-Packard and Jochen Katz make no representations about the
suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "AS-IS"
without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

Fine; the copyright holders are disclaiming any warranty.

Post by Pau Garcia i Quiles
User hereby grants a royalty-free license to any and all derivatives
based upon this software code base.

Too vague. The user must grant "a royalty-free license" under what
terms? The terms of this license, like the GPL? Any license terms they
choose, like the 3-clause BSD license? Something else? These terms
don't make this clear.

My verdict: It's probably intended to grant the freedoms required for
DFSG-freedom, and mostly does so, with a few vague points. The Debian
ftp-masters would probably consider it good enough.

IANAL, TINLA.
--
\ "He who allows oppression, shares the crime." -- Erasmus |
`\ Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin |
_o__) |
Ben Finney