[Coco] Legal status of Multivue and Basic09

[Diego Barizo]

I thought it was GPL because that's how it's listed in Sourceforge.
The reason for my questions is that I've been working in a NitrOS-9 project.
I noticed that 4 of the most usual problems / complaints are:
Problems making a custom boot disk (For me, the included scripts work 
like a charm, but...)
Problems getting M.V. to run
Limited usability of the EDIT command as text editor
And lack of Basic09  in the NitrOS-9 disks

So I decided to get involved and try to create a new "distribution".
The goal was/is to provide 2-3 disks with Basic09 included, MV ready to 
run, a full screen text editor, and an easier(?) way to make a custom disk.
I solved the Basic/MV/Editor already, and I'm writing a program that 
could give a "user-friendly" interface to the script editing needed to 
customize a boot disk.
But before starting to make it available on the net, I thought it would 
be smart to see what the situation was regarding distribution of those 
programs.

Regarding the NitrOS-9 site, I was thinking about "fast talking" a 
friend who just installed a server to donate the hosting.
I could do some work on it, and a .info domain goes for under $5 a year.

Maybe I should have asked Boisy directly, but I figured that he and 
anyone else involved would be reading the list.

Diego


Robert Gault wrote:
> Diego Barizo wrote:
>> I know that NitrOS-9 is GPL. What is the status of Multivue and Basic09?
>> Has anybody been able to run GShell 1.26 in NitrOS-9 (Not OS-9)?
>> What other updated versions are around? I know that at some point 
>> there was a "branch" and 2 different upgrade paths.
>>
>> And finally... Is there a "nice" NitrOS-9 website ? Like the one 
>> before the project was moved to sourceforge?
>>
>>
>> Diego
>
> NitrOS-9 is not GPL and the de facto status is that if we don't bother 
> the current owners of OS-9, they pretend NitrOS-9 does not exist.
>
> Whether NitrOS-9 is sufficiently different from OS-9 to be safe from a 
> lawsuit is a question for lawyers. Whether the NitrOS-9 team original 
> or current could afford any kind of legal action, I consider very 
> unlikely. So don't abuse our current status with NitrOS-9 by making 
> waves.
>
> Basic09 and Multivue are part of the source code but have not been 
> part of a release except for RunB. The latest NitrOS-9 release is 
> 03.02.06 but the source code is at version 03.02.07. I don't know when 
> it will be released or if more binaries will be included.
>
> Keep in mind that while there have been contributions from many 
> interested parties, NitrOS-9 currently is pretty much a one man show, 
> Boisy Pitre. If you would like to see the project move forward or in 
> another direction, don't complain, become an active contributor.
>
> -- 
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>