[OT] What is Open Source?

[Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters]

Greg Ewing <greg at cosc.canterbury.ac.nz> wrote previously:
|But if RMS would be happy with a world in which there
|was simply no copyright, he wouldn't bother with the
|GPL -- he could get the same effect just by putting
|all the stuff he writes in the public domain.

Surely, Greg, you see the error in this comment!  Being in a *world*
with no copyright is a very different thing than just putting your own
work in the public domain (no copyright).

Let's try analogy.  I would be happy in a *world* with no private
automobiles.  In such a world, almost per force, there would be good
public transportation most everywhere for people to use in getting
around.  In my real world, a bus comes to my entire town thrice a day,
and to get most anywhere, I need to spend hours waiting for transfers.
So in this actual world, I own an automobile.  My ideal would not be
obtained by disposing myself of my privately owned car.  Right?!

Yours, Lulu...

FWIW.  Even in this world, I still put my work in the public domain
(whenever I have control over the matter)... because I prefer to live in
a fantasy world of ethical purity.  But I realize that RMS is right
about the implications of the licenses in the real world.

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