The more I think about this, the more convinced I am that someone needs to
offer the following observations:
It is unfortunate that so many people within this community are so eager to
assume the worst about a company, simply because they ARE a company. Not all
corporations are Mickey$lu$h (I guess my biases in this regard are obvious), and
not all corporate leaders are Bill Gates.
Bring in business to make a profit is not a bad thing. One might note that
David and Monty are in business to make a profit, and by their own statements,
this was always their intent. Good on them!
As has been pointed out by several people, including myself, some of the
issues involved in this dispute are very tricky and difficult to understand,
even if one had ALL the relevant information to hand. The fact is that very few
(perhaps 3?) of the participants in this brouhaha have more than a modicum of
real information available to them.
There have been comments made by both parties which are arguably less than
totally correct. There have also been many comments made that perhaps should
not have been. Big surprise, with both money and pride involved, people get hot
under the collar when others don't see things THEIR way!
The people who tend to become involved heavily in the Open Source community
are often highly opinionated (who, ME?!) and quick to form judgements. This can
work against us as a community when it leads to the kinds of recrminations and
attacks we have seen here.
The unfortunate truth is that when millions or billions of dollars are on the
line, and when highly sophisticated legal concepts such as intellectual property
and licensing are involved, it often requires people with special training (OK,
I'll say it: lawyers) to sort things out. It is important to realize also that
all any lawyer can do is offer their opinion and interpretation of the law.
Only the Courts can offer a final statement as to the actual meanings of laws,
and even then, things are seldom clear cut. Remember that laws have no inherent
validity or meaning. They are abstract intellectual creations dreamed up by
human beings, and are subject to the inherent inefficiencies of language.
I seriously doubt that anyone from either of these companies has any
nefarious intentions. Although some things have been said on both sides which
may turn out not to be true, I rather suspect that this is due to differences of
opinion, coupled with a little anger, rather than intentional mendacity.
So...the upshot of all this, I suppose is: cool off, everyone. Let's see if
the folks at MySQL AB and NuSphere can resolve this to their mutual
satisfaction. Above all, PLEASE, let's stop calling each other names. None of
us are little children here.
tom
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