[aclug-L] Debian applauds Open Groups decision to re-free X source

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great news for the free software community!  (message attached)

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John Goerzen   Linux, Unix consulting & programming   jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx |
Developer, Debian GNU/Linux (Free powerful OS upgrade)       www.debian.org |
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To:	debian-news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject:	Debian applauds Open Groups decision to re-free X source
From:	"Nils Lohner" <lohner@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date:	Thu, 24 Sep 1998 13:44:43 -0400
Reply-to:	"Nils Lohner" <lohner@xxxxxxxxxx>

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Debian
http://www.debian.org/
Debian applauds Open Groups decision to re-free X source
September 24, 1998
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Debian applauds Open Groups decision to re-free X source

The Debian GNU/Linux distribution [1] would like to applaud the Open Group 
[2] for its recent decision to restore the license for the X Window System 
[3] to its previous terms.

Earlier this year, the Open Group released its latest update to the X Window 
System, X11R6.4, under a license incompatible with the Debian Free Software 
Guidelines [4] (which presaged the much-discussed Open Source Definition 
[5]), to the general consternation of the free software and Unix communities 
in general.  Historically X has been licensed under very laissez-faire 
terms, which is largely responsible for its ubiquitous presence in Unix 
computing.

Debian is delighted to see the Open Group return the X Window System to 
license under which its authors expected it to be distributed.  This 
decision is not only consistent with the open tradition of X's development 
base, but with the spreading awareness of the advantages of free (or "open 
source") software.


>> Credits 

Thanks to Branden Robinson <branden@xxxxxxxxxx> for writing this release.

Unix and X Window System are trademarks of the Open Group.
Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Open Source is a certification mark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc.


>> Related Links

[1] http://www.debian.org/
[2] http://www.opengroup.org/
[3] http://www.opengroup.org/x/xlicense.html
[4] http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
[5] http://www.opensource.org/osd.html

-- 
Nils Lohner                             E-Mail: lohner@xxxxxxxxxx
Debian Press Contact                    Press:  press@xxxxxxxxxx



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