Still no new license -- but draft text available

[Tim Peters]

[Courageous]
> Can *anyone* stop someone from producing derivative works of python?
>
> I am rather doubting it.

No, not under the terms of either the CWI license or the proposed CNRI Open
Source license.  Both explicitly allow derivative works provided you meet
their other conditions.

However, CNRI's legal counsel maintains that the CWI license is not valid,
so that any rights you may believe it grants you are an illusion.  At least
one other lawyer disagrees with that.  A third lawyer agrees with neither,
saying that both sides have points in their favor but that the ultimate
disposition is unclear.  I guess you get whatever advice you pay for ...

To avoid taking this issue to court is why BeOpen and CNRI are negotiating
now.  From what little I've heard about what CNRI has said, I believe they
believe their new license is in the best interests of the Python community,
to the extent that it succeeds in establishing a license whose validity is
not in question.  But that's third-hand hearsay at best; you'll have to ask
CNRI what their goal is here.

ours-is-to-get-back-to-python-development-ly y'rs  - tim