Anant Narayanan wrote: >>> Well, in software, >>> there are several known examples where Microsoft has taken BSD code, altered >>> it, and tried to lock users in to their way of doing things so that they can >>> exploit them forever after. To an extent they have succeeded more than >>> failed. >> This is the reason why GPL is important. > > GPL has redefined the word "freedom". True freedom means that anyone can > do whatever they want with code. Hence the BSD style licenses are truly > "free". GPL-like freedom, on the other hand is "forced freedom". Forced > freedom, IMHO, is as good as no freedom at all.
While it is true that FSF has "tainted" the original meaning of the english word "Free" and made it more like "free with strings attached", one should not confuse the intent here. There are two parties here - the developers and the users. What you mention as "Forced freedom" is forced only on developers. The license is not there in the first place to help developers - it is to help/protect *users*. When a developer offers a truly original software under GPL, he is merely ensuring that the users benefit from it in every manner in perpetuity. That is his intention - if you do not share that intention, you don't get to use it. There is absolutely no space for the developer to complain. This is just the same way the commercial world operates - remember the M$ rider to its new libraries which states that their libraries should not be used to make "viral" software like GPL'ed software? Think of GPL restrictions as just a clause of a commercial vendor which is incompatible to the needs of your company. I believe that the biggest reason behind this misunderstanding is that developers from the commercial space carry their mindset from that market to the FOSS world. FOSS libraries are here to help the community - not developers who don't share the egalitarian POV of this community. - Sandip _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
