[gNewSense-users] unclear licence of AMSLatex (fwd)

[Benedikt Ahrens]

Hello,

this is an update concerning the amslatex bug [1].
At the bottom you'll find the email the AMSTech team sent me [2]. It contains a 
proposal for a new license covering (all/most?)(*) of the files distributed in 
the amslatex package.

David from the AMSTech team also asks about the status of files that do not 
contain any license information. Are these covered by the license of an 
"associated" file. I think not (would be unclear to me what an "associated 
file" is), but please correct me if I'm wrong.

He suggests putting a LICENSE file in the root of the package, covering 
recursively all the files in the directory and subdirectories. This should be 
the right way to do it, I suppose.

I'll collect all the comments and transmit them to David.

The (*) is there because I believe that the AMS was not able to contact all the 
copyright owners that contributed to amslatex. But I couldn't find the 
statement confirming this right now, so perhaps I just imagine things.

Greetings
ben


[1] http://bugs.gnewsense.org/Bugs/00248

[2]
Dear Benedikt,

Here's a copy of the draft license that I propose to append to the
current AMS-LaTeX distributions.  Do you have any questions or
comments before I release it?

    The AMS is in the process of restating and updating the license on all
    of its distributed files in order to bring the license into line with
    current standards of "free" software licenses.  Since it will take
    some time to update all individual files, we're distributing this file
    now to clarify the license on currently-distributed files.
    
    The following license replaces any conflicting statement found inside
    any files distributed by the American Mathematical Society as part of
    the AMS-LaTeX distribution, including the amscls and amsmath
    components, and related files.
    
        Unlimited copying and redistribution of this file are permitted as
        long as this file is not modified.  Modifications, and
        distribution of modified versions, are permitted, but only if the
        resulting file is renamed.
    
    This includes -- but is not necessarily limited to -- the
    following files:
    
        ams-c1.ins      v2.20 (2004/08/03)
        ams-m1.ins      v1.05 (2000/05/25)
        amsalpha.bst    v2.0  (2000/03/27)
        amsbsy.dtx      v1.2d (1999/11/29)
        amsbsy.sty      v1.2d (1999/11/29)
        amscd.dtx       v2.0  (1999/11/29)
        amscd.sty       v2.0  (1999/11/29)
        amsdtx.cls      v2.06 (2004/08/06)
        amsdtx.dtx      v2.06 (2004/08/06)
        amsgen.dtx      v2.0  (1999/11/30)
        amsgen.sty      v2.0  (1999/11/30)
        amsldoc.cls     v2.06 (2004/08/06)
        amsldoc.tex     v2.09 (2004/04/06)
        amsmath.dtx     v2.13 (2000/07/18)
        amsmath.sty     v2.13 (2000/07/18)
        amsmidx.dtx     v2.01 (2004/08/03)
        amsmidx.sty     v2.01 (2004/08/03)
        amsopn.dtx      v2.01 (1999/12/14)
        amsopn.sty      v2.01 (1999/12/14)
        amsplain.bst    v2.0  (2000/03/27)
        amstex.sty      v1.2f (1999/11/15)
        amstext.dtx     v2.01 (2000/06/29)
        amstext.sty     v2.01 (2000/06/29)
        amsthdoc.tex    v2.20 (2004/08/03)
        amsthm.sty      v2.20 (2004/08/06)
        amsxtra.dtx     v1.2c (1999/11/15)
        amsxtra.sty     v1.2c (1999/11/15)
        instr-l.tex     v2.20 (2004/08/06)
        subeqn.tex      v1.2c (1999/11/29)
        technote.tex    v2.0  (1999/11/15)
        testmath.tex    v2.0  (1999/11/15)
        thmtest.tex     v2.01 (2004/08/02)
        upref.dtx       v2.01 (2004/07/29)
        upref.sty       v2.01 (2004/07/29)
    
    Please address any questions to
    
        American Mathematical Society
        Technical Support
        Publications Technical Group
        201 Charles Street
        Providence, RI 02904
        USA
        tel: (401) 455-4080
             (800) 321-4267 (USA and Canada only)
        fax: (401) 331-3842
        email: address@hidden
    
Incidentally, a number of the associated files (especially various
documentation files and release notes) do not have any included
license statement.  Is that something that we need to address or is it
understood that they are are covered by the same license in associated
files?  I suspect that the safest thing for us to do in the future is
include a 00LICENSE.txt file with wording similar to the above in all
of our distributions.

Best wishes,
David.
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