Liability disclaimers and Linux packaging
Nov 5th, 03:05 UTC
Bowerbird Computing has discovered a problem with the way Packaging systems are
implemented on Linux systems that may render any free software liability disclaimer
ineffective.
The problem arises from tort, or the ability the sue someone
for negligence. Such liability can be overcome by making it
clear that the software is used at the users own risk. If the
user is informed of this and accepts it then they are not able
to sue the developer of the package. It is for this reason that
GNU Emacs displays a disclaimer every time it starts up.
The problem with this for Linux packaging systems is that the
user must be warned of this disclaimer before they
install the software. As an example under Australian law, a
parking station placed a liability disclaimer on the back of
their tickets, but this disclaimer was ruled to be ineffective
because people did not have enough time to consider
the terms before entering the parking station.
With current packaging systems the liability disclaimer is not
displayed to the user before installation. With libraries and
daemons this could render the liability disclaimer ineffective.
This is a very serious liability for free software developers,
and the legal advice given to Bowerbird Computing is that the
user should be presented with the disclaimer before installation
and then given the option to not install the software after
reading it. Many will recognise this as being standard
practise among proprietary software developers, and the same
liability applies to free software.
Bowerbird Computing
is a free software company that produces XML development tools. It
is located on the South Coast of NSW, Australia.
(Submitted by Matthew Parry of Bowerbird Computing)
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