On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 1:05 AM, VICTOR TARABOLA CORTIANO < vt...@c3sl.ufpr.br> wrote:
> > > > I think the best example is "Free as in Beer." > > > > Which already misses the point. > > That's why the example is so common? It's in quotes because I didn't originate it. > > I can brew beer all day. > > > > I can keep it to myself. > > > > I can also share it. > > > > If I share a beer with you, it is free. (I am giving it to you) > > > > If you sell it to me it's also free. You are missing the point. > > Free for you to drink, perhaps. You still paid to possess it. Beer has source code just like binaries. You cannot make more beer from beer, but you can make more beer from beer yeast. Like reverse engineering, there are ways to get the yeast from a bottled product, but it's not the same as cultivating and modifying your own yeast source. Source Code is human-readable text, and as such can have disclaimers placed upon it for the viewer to see. This is where the analogy of beer is limited, but the ferocity of GNU becomes very real. > > If I share a beer with you under the BSDL, then I expect you to tell > > people I gave you that beer should they taste it and enjoy it as well. > > (I want you to tell them whether they enjoyed it or not.) > > > > If, however, I share a beer with you under the GPL then you are > > required to follow an entire listing on proper procedure and protocol > > for sharing that beer. In fact, unless you are ready to make the > ingredients > > available to everyone else, you better not experiment with my beer. > > > > > > Making an analogy with concrete examples is not useful because they are > different from information. > > You could make an analogy with recipes: > > If the recipe is under the GPL, if you give someone an obfuscated > recipe you would have to give the real recipe. > > But it's not very useful either. > You're unaware of this community and its own metaphors.
