NetBSD-Users archive

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Old Index]

Ancient BSD's Licensing & Trademarks when porting and/or forking V7 and/ or 2.x - 4.x BSD's



Hi,
I am after some verification on my understanding with what is trademarked and the licensing terms when it comes to using source code from V7 UNIX and the 22-bit pdp-11 BSD's as well as the 32-bit VAX BSD's (as mentioned in the title) to either fork or port it to a new platform.

For arguments sake and to help illustrate my situation and understanding, lets say i want to use the entire 3 BSD source code for a new project but i want to reference 3 BSD in the name of the project.

My current understanding is that porting the source code to a new platform and maintaining the original source code under the current 4-clause BSD license would allow me to use the title "3 BSD" as is without any changes but would always be restricted to the original licensing conditions.

On the other hand if i was to fork the 3 BSD source code, i would then not be restricted by original licensing aka i could change it from a 4-clause BSD to say a 3-clause BSD but i could not use the "3 BSD" title as is. 

The only exception to this is the use of the word "UNIX" in the title.

Is my understanding correct? 
If so i would also assume that it applies to the version number i.e. 3.1 BSD, despite no 3.1 BSD ever being released.
In which case does for example the title V7/x86 as used by Nordier count as a separate project or merely a port of V7 to the x86 architecture.

Any verification on this would really be appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Martin Kelly


Home | Main Index | Thread Index | Old Index