Bug#596844: perl: Text::Tabs might have a non-DFSG-free license

[Niko Tyni]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 11:30:05PM +0300, Niko Tyni wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 02:18:15PM +0000, v.nix.is wrote:
> > Package: perl
> > Version: 5.10.1-14
> > Severity: normal
> > Tags: upstream
> > 
> > Text::Tabs which is shipped with both upstream perl and the Debian
> > version has this license, (highlight by me):
> > 
> >    Copyright (C) 1996-2002,2005,2006 David Muir Sharnoff.  Copyright
> >    (C) 2005 Aristotle Pagaltzis This module may be modified, used,
> >    copied, and redistributed at your own risk. __Publicly
> >    redistributed modified versions must use a different name__.
> > 
> > It seems that the license forbids any downstream patches without
> > changing the name, 
> 
> Quoting DFSG #4:
>   
>   [...] The license may require derived works to carry a different name or
>   version number from the original software. (This is a compromise. The
>   Debian group encourages all authors not to restrict any files, source
>   or binary, from being modified.)

Hi, you might be interested to hear that the license was changed
upstream in  Text-Tabs+Wrap-2013.0523 and now reads

 This module may be modified, used, copied, and redistributed at your own
 risk. Although allowed by the preceding license, please do not publicly
 redistribute modified versions of this code with the name "Text::Tabs"
 unless it passes the unmodified Text::Tabs test suite.

The change will be in Perl 5.20 which will hopefully make it into the
next Debian release.
-- 
Niko Tyni   ntyni at debian.org