Re: lynx-dev Re: Licensing Lynx (fwd)

[Henry Nelson]

> Which is why I have posted to this list in an attempt to find all of
> the authors and obtain their permission to use the code.

Okay, I see some sincerity in your response, and I'll give you the
benefit of the doubt.  The answer was supplied to you early on, but
perhaps before you had subscribed to the list.  The only way you could
really be thorough would be to go through CHANGES and docs/CHANGES2.*.
Regular contributors are identified by initials (sometimes incorrectly).
It will be a very tedious and time-consuming job.

> However, I would like to secure the permission of those present,
> and of the University of Kansas, to use portions of the code.

What portions (rhetorical)?  Perhaps if you only need specific code,
you can narrow down the authors to a few.  Most of the authors tend
to specialize.  I'm no expert by any means, but would you or they be
able to do that, i.e., could they revoke the conditions under which
they contributed their pieces of code?  Don't you really have to get
the consent of the entire _body_ of authors, not individuals?

> We seek to eliminate the many problems which blind users have in
> using Lynx to "browse" the Web. Because of the way Lynx displays
> data and redraws the screen, it is not optimal for the blind user.

Are you really sure Lynx is the way to go?  Lynx as good as it is
carries a tremendous amount of under/un-used code.  Have you looked
into say "w3m" (http://ei5nazha.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/~aito/w3m/index.html)
or any of the other text browsers?  What protocols do you need, only
http?  Do you really need (at this point) an international browser?
A default-compiled Lynx probably carries close to 15-20% binary size
to give character translation capability and NLS messages.  I assume
you have only made progess in the English language if you are thinking
about voice options.

> We're a (so far) loosely knit group of hackers in Laramie, Wyoming
> who would like to help (and employ!) a blind friend and possibly others
> who are blind or visually impaired. The group overlaps with two others
> doing different open source-basd projects.

Rather than dinging around with Lynx, it seems to me you might be spending
your time better by competing with IBM or whoever it was who wrote that
"Vocal-Eyes."  All you would need is a low-cost, high-performance voice
renderer for clip board (C).  Did you pick up on what Takeshi Hataguchi
has done?  Take a look at:
    <http://www.flora.org/lynx-dev/html/month0999/msg00289.html>

Personally, I would prefer any further discussion of licensing be taken
off of lynx-dev since all of the major contributors knowledgeable/
interested in this issue have already given you their definitive answers.
If you have input towards the development of Lynx, by all means contribute.
Thank you, and good luck.

__Henry