hi,
BGanesh wrote on Thu, Sep 19, 2002 at 01:52:40PM -0400:
bga> it. You raise an interesting point on licenses that prevent sharing. What
say
bga> you about the GPL?
Ppl tend to think of GPL as a restrictive license that does not let you
do *everything* that you wanted to do with it(like use it in
proprietary/non-free softwares). There are priorities with various
freedoms. Some freedoms need to give way to the others. I love quoting
how RMS explained this: "My freedom to swing my arm ends at the point
where your nose begins".
What most of the people fail to see is the freedom that comes along with
your GPL protected software. Unlike other vulnerable licenses, like the
BSD license for instance, the GPL makes sure that the free software that
you write wont be abused by non-free software companies and that it
would have the same freedoms irrespective of how it develops / is used.
We can also find a lot of people who write free software releasing their
code under non-GPLed free licenses such as the BSD license giving
various reasons:
* Under GPL my software wont develop as fast as it would if I release
it under the BSD license
* There might be "good" proprietary software companies who might
increase the fame of my software by incorporating it in their
software. If I release it under the GPL they wont be able to do so.
I want my software to be "famous".
various reasons. although writing free softwares is a deed worth
appreciating, the GPL is a protection to make sure the software isn't
abused. By all this I'm not trying to discourage the use of other free
software licenses. My humble opinion is that the GPL is a good way of
making sure that one's work remains free for sure. For some its "okay"
if the companies that compare sharing of software to that of attacking a
ship develops on the software that they write. It is infact a matter of
personal ethics whether one wants to use a free software or a
proprietary software. Primarily this thread started off to know how many
people wanted to go by this ethics of sharing software and enjoying
freedom. *shrug*
bga> products fall in to this category), and vertical (exclusive development on
bga> specific platforms). You tend to assume that all s/w models are
horizontal, I
bga> spend most of my time in the second market...
I agree that there aren't enough free softwares for all needs. But We
aren't talking about the availability of enough free softwares for
various needs. We are primarily talking about why ILUGC should[n't]
support non-free softwares.
-Suraj
--
+----------------------------------------------<suraj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>--+
| Who are guided by the one, above likes and dislikes, |
| face no impediments in life |
| (prayer - 4), Thirukkural |
+--<http://www.symonds.net/~suraj/>------------------------------------+
