Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2023 05:02:11 +0100 (CET)
From: Erik Wienhold <ewie@ewie.name>
To: Ian Lawrence Barwick <barwick@gmail.com>
Cc: Siddharth Jain <siddhsql@gmail.com>, pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org
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Subject: Re: Publishing Postgres Manual as a book
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> On 23/03/2023 04:34 CET Ian Lawrence Barwick <barwick@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 2023=E5=B9=B43=E6=9C=8823=E6=97=A5(=E6=9C=A8) 12:23 Erik Wienhold <ewie@e=
wie.name>:
> >
> > > On 23/03/2023 02:35 CET Siddharth Jain <siddhsql@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > The Postgres Manual is available online as a PDF but I think having i=
t in a
> > > book form could be useful to some.
> > >
> > > Is it legal for me to publish the manual as a book?
> >
> > IANAL, but I'd say yes as long as you don't take a fee.  The legal noti=
ce of
> > the documentation grants distribution of the documentation "for any pur=
pose,
> > without fee".
>
> Also not a lawyer, but the full sentence is:
>
> > Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
> > documentation for any purpose, without fee, and without a written agree=
ment is
> > hereby granted
>
> which in my non-lawyerly interpretation means anyone copying, modifying a=
nd
> distributing the documentation may do so without paying a fee. A distribu=
tor
> could charge what they like.

I know the fee clause from licenses such as Zero-Clause BSD, ISC License, a=
nd
GPLv3.  They state "with or without fee" or "gratis or for a fee" pertainin=
g to
the distribution.  That's also how I interpret the fee clause in the Postgr=
eSQL
license with the difference that it does not permit taking a fee.

> AFAIR the documentation has previously been published in book form, thoug=
h as
> it runs to about 3,000 A4 pages now, the logistics are non-trivial.

It's also out of date pretty quickly with four releases a year.

--
Erik