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<title>The Motif License - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> |
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<div class="article reduced-width"> |
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<h2>The Motif License</h2> |
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|
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<address class="byline">by <a href="https://www.stallman.org/">Richard |
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Stallman</a></address> |
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<p> |
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A couple of weeks ago, the Open Group changed the license of Motif, |
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inviting free software developers to use it. However, the new Motif |
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license does not fit either the definition of free software, or the |
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looser definition of open source software.</p> |
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<p> |
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Their announcement says they have released Motif to “the open |
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source community,” but this is true only in an unnatural |
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interpretation of the words. They have not made Motif available |
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within the free software community; instead, they have invited the |
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people in the free software community to leave the community by using |
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Motif.</p> |
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<p> |
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I've written to the Open Group about this, asking them to change the |
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license. We can hope they will, but we can't assume it. In the |
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present circumstances, we have to treat Motif the same way we treated |
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it before: not available for us. Motif still cannot be part of a free |
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operating system, and combining or linking someone else's GPL-covered |
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code with Motif is still a violation of the GPL except in very special |
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circumstances.</p> |
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<p> |
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Fortunately there is a free software alternative to Motif, called |
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LessTif. Most programs that were written for Motif can use LessTif |
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with no changes. Please support the free software community by using |
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LessTif rather than Motif. Some finishing work still needs to be done |
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on LessTif; to volunteer, contact <a href="mailto:lesstif@hungry.com"> |
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<lesstif@hungry.com></a>.</p> |
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<p> |
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Here are some of the problems of the Motif license:</p> |
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<ul> |
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<li>It claims that you accept the license merely by |
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“using” Motif. Only a shrink-wrap license or |
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something similar can do that, and shrink-wrap licenses are a |
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bad thing. |
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</li> |
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|
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<li>The license is restricted to use on certain operating systems, |
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those which fit a category they call “open source.” |
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Both the free software movement and the open source camp |
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consider use restrictions unacceptable. |
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</li> |
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<li>Their definition of the term “open source” is very |
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different from the one used by the open source camp, thus |
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causing confusion. |
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</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p> |
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In the free software movement, we disagree with the philosophy and |
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values of open source. (For more explanation, see |
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<a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">open-source-misses-the-point.html</a>.) |
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But even though we do not support open source or advocate what it |
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stands for, we think people should not misrepresent what it stands |
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for. The facts of the situation are complex enough; confusing the |
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issue is not welcome.</p> |
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<h3 id="LaterNote" class="footnote">Later Note</h3> |
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<p> |
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<em>In 2012, <a href="https://motif.ics.com/"> |
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Motif</a> was released under the GNU Lesser General Public |
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License, version 2.1.</em></p> |
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<p class="unprintable">Updated: |
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$Date: 2021/09/10 10:58:36 $ |
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