Where's the (c) on unix?

Mark Horton mark at cbosgd.UUCP
Sat Mar 24 02:17:46 AEST 1984


Yes, I wrote "w".  That program (and of course uptime, which is
just a link to w) are in the public domain, and not copyrighted.

In general, any program which is in Berkeley UNIX which did not
appear in UNIX/32V is almost certainly in the public domain.
It says so in your Berkeley UNIX license.  This includes Mail
as well.  It doesn't include ex or vi (also the same program)
because they have the V6 ed command buried inside them, and ed
is covered by the AT&T UNIX license.

Berkeley and AT&T do not make any promises about any particular
program falling into one category or another, although it is
possible to ask for an opinion about the history of any particular
program.  So if you publish or freely distribute a program from
Berkeley UNIX, you take the risk yourself - if AT&T claims that
the program is part of UNIX/32V and sues you, you're on your own.

	Mark Horton



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