From: guy@Auspex.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: misc.legal,comp.sys.sun.misc
Subject: Re: Put away your Motif manual; Sun's lawyers are at the door!
Date: 23 Dec 92 04:04:51 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.sun.misc
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara

>2. License to Develop.  In the event that Customer desires to develop software
>programs which incorporate portions of Software ("Developed Programs"), the
>following provisions apply, to the extent applicable:

Hmm.  I wonder what "incorporate portions of Software" means here?

Does it refer to header files included when you build the "developed
program"?

Does it refer to shared libraries with which your program is linked?

>Developed Programs are to be OPEN LOOK(R) compliant

I also wonder what "to the extent applicable" means when applied to
"OPEN LOOK(R) compliant"?  Does it mean "any application you do that
uses X11 or NeWS must be OL-compliant", or "if you're going to build
this application with an OL toolkit, it must be OL-compliant"?   The
former is clearly obnoxious; the latter may just be an attempt to ensure
that any applications built with OL toolkits conform to the OL style
guide (some people would probably find that requirement obnoxious as
well).

>and have an application programming interface that is the same as that
>of Software;

I'm sure some lawyer within Sun knows what that is supposed to mean, but
I'm not sure *I* know what it's supposed to mean....

>fonts within Software are to remain associated with their toolkit or
>server;

That sounds as if it might be an attempt to keep people from bundling
fonts with the application if the fonts came from the Solaris
distribution - i.e., if you want the fonts in question, you'll have to
get them from your Solaris CD, not from some application vendor.

>Developed Programs may be used and distributed, but only on computer
>equipment licensed to utilize Solaris operating system software, unless
>an additional Developer's License Agreement has been executed by SunSoft
>and Customer;

Similarly, that *might* be an attempt to keep people from selling a
product that contains bits of Solaris to people who aren't licensed to
run Solaris.

>Customer is not licensed to
>develop printing applications or print using fonts in F3(TM) format, unless
>Customer has secured a license for NeWSprint(TM);

Is that first clause intended to be parsed as

	Customer is not licensed to (develop printing applications or
	print) (using fonts in F3(TM)) format...

or

	Customer is not licensed to (develop printing applications) (or
	print using fonts in F3(TM)) format...

If the former, it doesn't mean you can't develop printing applications
if you're not licensed for NeWSprint(TM), it means you can't develop
printing applications *that use fonts in F3(TM) format* if you're not
licensed for NeWSprint(TM).

That doesn't sound unreasonable, except that it's not clear what a
"printing application ... using fonts in F3(TM) format" is.  If your
application just dumps text to a file and fires up "lp" to print it,
*but* the printer to which it's printing it is set up to, when printing
ordinary text files, use an F3(TM)-format font, does that mean that your
application is a "printing application ... using fonts in F3(TM)
format"?

>Whew.  So, in a nutshell, as I read it:
>
>- I can't port a Motif application to Solaris 2.1.

Depends on what "to the extent applicable" means here.  It may just mean
that you can't build an application using the OLIT library, but make it
look more Motifish than OPEN LOOK-ish wherever it's possible to do so.

>- My program can't send things to my line printer unless I buy NeWSprint.

Again, that depends on how the clause in question is to be parsed.

>- If a Solaris bug causes disk corruption while someone is using my software,
>  I have to hire attorneys to defend SunSoft if the user decides to sue,
>  even if the suit doesn't involve me at all.

Not necessarily, as it says

  and Customer agrees to
  indeminfy, hold harmless and defend SunSoft from and against any claims or
  suits, including attorneys' fees, which arise or result from distribution
				    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  or use of Developed Programs.
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

which may mean that it applies only if the Solaris bug manifests itself
"from distribution or use of [your] Developed Programs".

Given the number of points that could mean different things depending on
how the clauses are interpreted, the Wise Thing To Do might be to
consult a lawyer before you develop a product, and perhaps have your
lawyer talk with Sun's lawyers about all this....