[Tango-artists] Why cant Tango Icons be GPL ?

[Andreas Nilsson]

Sergio Lopes wrote:
> Hi,
> This message got me by surprise and I would like to ask the
> developers, or contributors if you like :), what was the reason for
> choosing one of CC's license? And can it be possibly that the icon set
> be licensed under a dual license scheme, to include GPL?
>
> I must say I have loved the work you have done and have been following
> it for some time now, I'm a programmer not a designer so I can't be of
> really help when it comes to create icons, and found in Tango project
> a solution for a problem that has been bugging, the availability of
> quality icon themes for open source applications. But I never had the
> opportunity to use the icons, now I'm in the position where I need to
> use them, they are the only viable icon set I can find, but if they
> are not GPL compatible I won't be able to.
>
> If, like I read on your site, one of the goals is to change the open
> source application lack of consistency and poor design choices, why
> does the project use a license that is not open source and is not
> compatible with GPL, one of the most used open source licenses out
> there?
>
> Is there a license I can use for my applications that won't conflict
> with the license used by the icons? Or, is using the icons on an
> application considered distribution?
>   
Hi!
The license decision was made by Novells lawyers that thought it made 
most sense to publish it under a Creative Commons license when the 
project was launched two years ago. Perhaps they thought that it made 
more sense for graphics, I'm not sure really. (this was also before FSF 
came out and said that they thought GPL and CC-BY-SA was incompatible).
The most important part of the Tango Project is not the Tango Icon set 
though, but the style guidelines. The same people that made most of that 
set also made GNOME Icon Theme, that's shipped with GNOME, using the 
same style guidelines.
You can find it in gnome svn (svn.gnome.org) in the gnome-icon-theme 
module. That set is GPL, even though a relicensing to the LGPL is being 
discussed. As I said in my previous e-mail, icon theme lookup is 
probably your friend, as it will bring you assessability  icons as a 
bonus, as well as picking up the icons if your users are running any 
special theme.
- Andreas