On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 6:37 PM, SteveC <st...@asklater.com> wrote: > > On 25 Mar 2009, at 11:34, Andy Allan wrote: > >> On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 5:36 PM, SteveC <st...@asklater.com> wrote: >>> On 22 Mar 2009, at 06:08, 80n wrote: >>> The complexity arguments are largely superfluous. >>> [...] >>> I get in my car every day and drive to work without knowing >>> how the engine management system works but it's not a 'show stopper'. >> >> I disagree with you there Steve. The problem is that *we're the guys >> building the engine*, and yet we don't know how the engine management >> system works. > > I agree that the authors and groups who built the GPL need to > understand it, at least to the degree possible with no training in > law, but do I as a user and contributor to GNU/LINUX need to? That I > thought was the point?
A) The GPLEMU - an engine management unit already used in 14,000 models of car, and 12 other manufactures. I'm heading up the OCMcar project, and someone suggested using the GPLEMU. I see cars using the EMU all over the place. It's been roadtested for ten years. People have sued each other over it, and it's still fine. I'm pretty happy using the GPLEMU in the OCMcar project, even though I don't understand it. I don't really need to scrutinise it much. B) The ODbLEMU - an engine management unit that's not finished yet. It uses three technologies (contract fusion, database fission and anti-copyright-matter) that have never been tried before in combination. It's complex. It's untested. It's not even finished, but it will be real soon now. It's probably going to work, because the guys who are making it seem pretty smart and their hearts are in the right place, but then again, it might not. Reports back from other Physicst-legals suggest that there might be fundamental science problems combining those three technologies that simply can't be overcome. The OCMcar project board (OCMcarF) are asking me whether I should bet the farm on the ODbLEMU. I say we need to think it over carefully, and give it way more scrutiny than I would the GPLEMU. Can you see why? Cheers, Andy _______________________________________________ legal-talk mailing list legal-talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/legal-talk
