[lsb-discuss] LSB conf call notes for 2008-07-30

Alan Cox alan at lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk
Mon Aug 11 11:10:04 PDT 2008


> Under the circumstanes where a liticant might sue Sun, they can also
> sue CentOS directly.  If you're not prepared for that eventuality,

Only if CentOS is required by the LSB spec to ship a TCK verified
trademark Java product. At which point the producers of the LSB may also
have some additional liabilities - so it isn't in their interest either
really is it ?

As I keep pointing out if the LSB does not require a TCK verified
java(tm) product then the problem goes away for the most part. If Sun say
they wont try and go after anyone for /usr/bin/java being a compatible
alternative product that goes away too.

So can we please keep the LSB out of this stuff. Define what "Java
enabled LSB" means as an option and leave it at that. Sun will do the
rest, the java community will do the rest and the LSB won't even have to
worry about updates and synchronization beyond occasionally changing new
LSB versions to say ">= version foo".

> As I said, the FSF has requested people who contribute code to FSF
> projects to sign a very similar indemnification clause, and I don't
> see a huge amount of outcry amongst open source developers about said

You don't seem to look very far then. Lots of people don't contribute to
FSF managed projects for that reason.

> clause.  Somehow, people are still contributing to the various FSF
> projects (gcc, glibc, et. al) despite the request for indemnification.
> So maybe all of the FSF developers in the world are missing something
> that you alone see.  Why don't you help us (and them) understand it?

The FSF contributing developers are a small subset of the community you
seem to be conveniently selecting, and most of them contribute through
companies that happen conveniently to provide a legal shield.

You cannot magic the issue away by trying to play word games and making
misleading assertions. Well maybe you can to the powers that be but not
to the world at large.

Alan



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