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I have been messing with code in The Unix Archive and have found that most of the code references a (non existent) license, however, this is in the root of the mirrors and apparently covers all of the code (typed from a PDF, so excuse the typos): (source pdf is here

The following copyright notice applies to the source code files for which the license is granted.

Copyright(c) Caldera International Inc. 2001-20012. All rights reserved Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code and documentation must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer.

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in teh docuemtnation and/or other materials provided iwth the distribution.

All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following acknowledgement: This product includes software developed or owned by Caldera International, inc.

Neither the name of Caldera International, Inc. nor the names of other contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived form this software without specific prior written permission.

USE OF THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED FOR UNDER THIS LICENSE BY CALDERA INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS ''AS IN'' AND NAY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL CALDERA INTERNATIONAL, INC. BE LIABLE OFR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLRARAY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Is this an open source license? It kind of seems to be very BSD-ish, with the exclusion of the clause "all advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following acknowledgement: this product includes software developed or owned by Caldera International, Inc"

Does that clause prevent this from being an open source license?

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2 Answers 2

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It seems to be the original, 4-clause BSD License.

Yes, it is free software (it's DSFG compatible and FSF-approved, but not OSI approved).

It is, however, slightly problematic, because that advertising clause can lead to lots and lots of small print on any advertisement (and keeping track of all those requirements is a pain).

Also, contrary to the other BSD license variations, the FSF considers this license to be incompatible with the GPL!

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In essence this is the BSD license, and is indeed an open source license.

The advertising materials bit is really just a restatement of the clause preceding it.

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