Documentation project status

[Edward C. Bailey]

Hello all,

    Sorry I haven't responded sooner -- I was away visiting family over the
holidays, and wasn't able to get to my email...

>>>>> "Dave" == Dave Pawson <dpawson at nildram.co.uk> writes:

Dave> At 19:27 22/12/2003, Edward C. Bailey wrote:
>> Ummm, one minor point.  You'll note that These documents include the
>> following options to the OPL:
>> 
>> "Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is
>> prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder."
>> 
>> "Distribution of the work or derivative of the work in any standard
>> (paper) book form for commercial purposes is prohibited unless prior
>> permission is obtained from the copyright holder."
>> 
>> These options effectively restrict documents licensed in this fashion
>> from being used for the Fedora project.

Dave> If applicable, an SGML to XML conversion under FDL use wouldn't
Dave> breach 1.  I for one certainly wouldn't deliver a paper copy, which
Dave> abides by 2.

>From a strict interpretation, the points you make are true (however, I
would not be at all surprised if the SGML>XML conversation itself was
deemed to be a "substantive modification" -- but for the sake of argument,
let's assume this isn't an issue).  What you would then have would be an
XML version of the Red Hat Linux 9 documentation.  This copy would also be
licensed under the OPL, and would include the same two options mentioned
here, as there is no language in the OPL that allows a third-party to
change the license terms.  So far, so good.

However, the next logical step is when things start to run off the tracks.
What's the most natural thing to do with an existing document when the
software described in that document changes?  That's right -- modify the
document to reflect the changes made to the software.

And at *that* point we're *definitely* talking about "substantive
modifications", so we're into prohibited territory.

Bottom line -- The Red Hat Linux is not part of the Fedora project, so the
only way to move forward wrt Fedora Core documentation is to concentrate on
the creation of new content...

                                Ed
-- 
Ed Bailey        Red Hat, Inc.          http://www.redhat.com/