Re: OS questions draft, III

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

Roger Dingledine wrote:
> 

> >Is the availability of freely modifiable and
> >distributable source code for educational software important to you?
> 
> Doug: asking about
> 1) availability of source code
> 2) price of said source code
> 3) permission to modify it
> 4) permission to distribute it
> 
> is more than one question can handle. Are 2 and 3 particularly important
> to you, or shall we just go with
> * Availability of source code for educational software applications

Well, I was just trying to get the concept behind open source software
down to a few generally understood terms that would fit into the
question.  The simpler question would be fine I think, especially if
there's a short preface to the questionnaire that explains the terms
used later, something like, "In this questionnaire, the phrase
'availability of source code' means the availability of the initial
version of a program in humanly understandable form, along with the
permission to modify the program and to distribute those modifications
so long as such modified programs also include the modified source code
under these terms."  That probably sounds too lawyerly, but I think a
definition of terms so that everyone is answering the same questions is
probably a good idea.

-- 
Doug Loss                 My sources are unreliable, but
Data Network Coordinator  their information is fascinating.
Bloomsburg University          Ashleigh Brilliant
dloss@bloomu.edu