                                  JDR_BBS r.07
                                      by
                                  John Rohner



LICENSE         It seems I am granting you a limited license to  utilize this 
                software.  The program is copyrighted after all. 

                So in that spirit, here are the "rules" you must follow:

                     No more than 5%  of the code (in bytes)  may be used for 
                     your commerical/shareware/freeware products. 

                     For    each   subroutine   you   do   use    for    your 
                     commerical/shareware products,  I  would like to  see  a 
                     royalty  of one cent (per subroutine)  for each copy  of 
                     your program that you sell. 

                     No utility utilizing the data structures,  files created 
                     by,   or files of this software may charge a higher  fee 
                     (shareware  or otherwise)  than the registration  fee  I 
                     charge. 

                     Further,  programs that use more than 5% of the code, or 
                     make  use of the software's data structures may,  at any 
                     time, be fully incorporated into future releases of this 
                     software  without compensation or acknowledgement on  my 
                     part. 

                     I  GRANT  NO RIGHT FOR ANY DISK SERVICE  OR  ANYBODY  TO 
                     CHARGE  ANY  FEE FOR THIS PRODUCT.   THIS  INCLUDES  ANY 
                     COSTS,   INCLUDING  POSTAGE AND HANDLING,  THAT  CAN  BE 
                     IMAGINED.   So,  as long you distribute this product for 
                     free, I have no problems.  It is allowed to be posted on 
                     on general payment BBS's,  but may not be packaged  with 
                     other software as part of a package purchase.   You  may 
                     not rent or lease it to others. 
        
                Ok,  lets get down and dirty: what I want to see is 3rd party 
                software also include their source,  and preferably be tested 
                by  me first--so I may optionally choose to include it in the 
                next  version (you always get credit for your work).   If you 
                go off and write a log analyzer (say)  and charge a $50   fee 
                for it, I reserve the right to, and probably will, include it 
                in my source.   However,  since you may be unhelpful in  said 
                regard--I will most  likely write a better one  that utilizes 
                many of your ideas and put it in the program.   Why all this?  
                It is  mainly to keep quality control over the product,  this 
                includes  keeping  it  up-to-date  with  the  best   possible 
                routines  and options.   Any 3rd party software that pops  up 
                means  I forgot something,  or there is a better way to do it 
                than I have done it.  And all these silly rules will allow me 
                to do it like the 3rd party guy did.   Also, if you are using 
                the  code  for commerical products then you (really)   should 
                develop it  yourself--it is hard to  maintain  someone  elses 
                code.  And this code will change often. 

                The   way   around  these  restrictions:   utilize  my   data 
                structures/etc.  as  part of a general system (where  you are 
                making  use  of the data from many BBS softwares  or  other). 
                Even then I may "peel off" from your product your ideas,  but 
                at least I would not be absorbing your whole product.  I want 
                free  and  open software,  3rd party developers  should  only 
                develop routines that can be added onto the source,  and then 
                released as part of the next version of this BBS software  as 
                a  whole.    The "proper"  3rd party product:  1.   design  a 
                subroutine to work with this source, 2. send it up to my BBS, 
                3.  I  will confirm what it does, make sure it is compatible, 
                and perhaps optimize it, 4.  it will then be included as part 
                of  the source.  If there is a capability/problem that a  3rd 
                party developer  sees,   I will see it as well,  and  work to 
                add/fix  it.   I  really  do not want to see a  hundred files 
                "related"    to  JDR_BBS--whether  code  fragments  or  fully 
                functional  sub-programs.  If you want to write, say,  a  log 
                analyzer program without running it by me first,  you can BET 
                that the next release will have a log analyzer written by me-
                -totally  wasting  your effort,  and forcing me to  re-invent 
                your wheel. 

                Perhaps the one thing that would really make me mad:  if  you 
                were to take this software,  and use most of it for your  own 
                BBS program.  It does not matter what language you convert it 
                to.   You can reverse engineer it--like AMI/AWARD/etc.   does 
                with  BIOS,  or AMD does with INTEL chips.   But like both of 
                these  examples,   just because the specs are public  domain, 
                does not  mean you can make duplicates.   You can modify this 
                software for your own use,  but you cannot modify (or reverse 
                engineer)   this  software and then re-distribute it (in  any 
                form). 

                Example:  you just bought an Amiga,  and decide to make  your 
                BBS  Amiga  specific using the Amiga computer.    Having  run 
                JDR_BBS  for  10   years,  you like it.   So  you  make  some 
                modifications to get it to work properly on the Amiga.  Fine.  
                Then  you get interest from other Amiga sysops.   So you give 
                them  copies,  or create a JDR_BBS-FORTHEAMIGA file and  post 
                it.  Wrong.  You should dump your modifications on me, then I 
                will include them in the next release,  with a  configuration 
                question:  "IBM  or  Amiga?".   You will get credit  for your 
                modifications, everyone gets an Amiga version, and we are all 
                happy. 

