[Ilugc] We Don't Need the GPL Anymore (fwd)
- From: ee01b098@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Ayan Chakrabarti)
- Date: Sat Jul 2 19:59:50 2005
Hey,
On Sat, 2 Jul 2005, Anand Saha wrote:
Ok, let's see this. You sell your GPLed product to this company.
This company likes your product. Why shouldn't this company put
your product on their ftp server for other's download pleasure
and social service ? And when that happens, why should someone pay
just for your s/w and not download it from the company's ftp server?
Ok, let us keep aside the donations channel for a moment (because
there are people who are not _so_ geeky and who want a reliable and
constant source of income because they have family to support)
In this particular case (the verilog synthesis tool), it would infact
be giving it away with their hardware. The point is, you're still a
software engineer, but your employer is a hardware company. Its employing
you to keep customizing and improving the software (using the benefits of
other free software that may be out there) for every iteration of their
hardware product.
Say you work for IBM and are part of the team that works on the
file-system drivers for linux. IBM _is_ going to give away that software
for free, not out of the goodness of their heart, but because it
strengthens their platform.
The compromise is between having to start from scratch to write software
for your particular platform (which you're essentially trying to sell and
is your main product) to using free-software code to get a kickstart, but
then making the source available for improvements. And IBM _does_ do this,
and still profits.
On the other hand, if the company doesn't want any other entity
to use your s/w but only them (for reasons like maintaining an edge
in market, maintaining monopoly etc.), why should they accept you
selling it to them under GPL ? Because then _you_ will be a threat
to them, because, as the author, you retain the right to distribute/
sell it to others too!
Err, no. They can insist you transfer the copyright to them, and keep it
inhouse. Just because GPL'ed code exists doesn't mean it has to be given
to everyone. All the GPL says is that you can't distribute the executable
without also distributing the source, and giving further distribution
rights to yor client.
--Ayan
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