OT - Closing Off An Open-Source Product

[Chris Watson]

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> At the risk of getting napalm on me, I have to ask... how
> badly has the GPL actually hurt you?  I respect your right
> to disagree with Stallman et al (I often do) but the GPL
> supports freedom.  The only thing you can't properly do
> with a GPL program is hide it.

. o O (Now where did I put my napalm...)

First lets agree on something if we can. I have always made it clear the
GPL is not a free license. The delusion that it is boggles me. The things
that make it non free are A) the fact it forces me to GPL my entire code
base if I use it. B) That I must give out the sorce of the entire code
base. That is not free by any stretch of the imagination. It's a license
with restrictions just like MS, or Apple, or the MPL or ...

> If you choose to modify a program, and the program is GPL'd,
> you know that up front.  The GPL is easy enough to read, so
> you can't say you were surprised; if you don't like the terms,
> you have to go elsewhere.  The fact is, all software licenses
> work that way.  The terms of the Python license force certain
> choices to be made also... specifically the regretable GPL
> incompatibility.

You just proved my point. This is the common argument by GPL people. If
you dont like the GPL dont use it. I shouldnt HAVE to make a choice to use
it or not if it were TRULY free. The BSDL does not give anyone such a PITA
as the GPL. The BSDL respects IP, is truly free in every sense of the
word, places no restrictions on code use, is as close to public domain as
you can get while still respecting copyright. As the saying goes dont
urinate on my leg and tell me it's raining :) The GPL is not free, it has
several nasty restrictions, and actions in it. All of which do not jive
with freedom.

> I see from your .sig that you are a BSD user.  Cool.  Free
> is good.  Free software isn't a religion with me (I am
> closer to Eric Raymond's camp that way) but frankly I don't
> like non-free software a bit.  Quality sucks.

I may sound like a religous nut with the BSDL but im not. Im clearly
disturbed by the falsification that the GPL is somehow free. It isnt. It
is viral, destroys IP, and is aimed at corrupting code bases to extort
code the original GPL author never wrote, into the public by force. Yes I
can hear you "then dont use it". Again that proves it's not a free
license, or free code if your saying play by my "restrictions" or go
elsewhere. Anyone can see the hypocricy in that.

> (Yes, I am using Outlook Express under Windows 98 for those
> of you reading my headers.  It does suck, but this is my
> home computer... my wife and daugher would KILL me if I changed
> it.)

haha No need to explain that. But you are obviously using OE because it
has better features, and functions than anything else you can get. Or you
obviously wouldnt be using it at all. So it can't suck to bad. So closed
apps are not all bad.

> This has been possibly the angriest discussion I've seen on
> this list; the Python list (c.l.py newsgroup) has always been
> a more polite place than that "other" P* language list, and
> I'd like to keep it that way.

In all fairness I never resorted to name calling :) It could be alot
worse.

=============================================================================
- -Chris Watson         (316) 326-3862 | FreeBSD Consultant, FreeBSD Geek
Work:              scanner at jurai.net | Open Systems Inc., Wellington, Kansas
Home:  scanner at deceptively.shady.org | http://open-systems.net
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