Karl Fogel <kfogel_at_red-bean.com> wrote on 08/08/2008 12:16:39 PM:
> kmradke_at_rockwellcollins.com writes:
> > Ok, I'll bite and start a new thread (as suggested by Karl)...
> >
> > Some open source projects have documented guidelines on
> > releasing "customized builds" of their open source software.
> >
> > In order to preserve the integrity of the Subversion name,
> > I suggest some rules be put in place to help people
> > continue the great tradition.
> >
> > There doesn't appear to be anything in the hacking guide,
> > but I think this type of information would fit there.
>
> I understand the spirit in which you're proposing this, but... is it
> maybe solving a non-problem? We haven't had a lot of confusion over
> custom binaries, and what little confusion we have had has been easily
> cleared up. We also have trademark guidelines at
>
> http://subversion.org/legal/trademark-policy.html
Yeah, I just noticed this link after you posted it to @users. It does
fill most of what I was asking for (from a legal standpoint).
> and we have enforced them, but that enforcement has usually been about
> marketing materials and such, not about custom binaries -- precisely
> because we haven't seen much identity confusion around custom binaries.
>
> I do agree with the recommendations you make below. But so far, all the
> intended audience seems to already be aware of these recommendations and
> to be following them...
>
> > While open source is all about freedom, I do believe
> > it is reasonable to be able to restrict usage of the
> > name and versioning numbers in nonstandard releases...
>
> Yep; that's trademark law, unrelated to copyright law, and it exists
> precisely to prevent identity confusion. The Subversion project uses
> trademark law in the same way many open source projects do. There is no
> contradiction with the principles of open source here.
I guess we just need a little more documentation then. At the very
least a link from hacking to the trademark-policy for people like me :)
Kevin R.
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Received on 2008-08-08 19:24:47 CEST