Non GPL Python MySQL Client Library.

[Paul Rubin]

jjl at pobox.com (John J. Lee) writes:
> FWLIW, I'm not persuaded I should worry about commercial software
> developers using my open-source code (I am one myself, after all ;-),
> so I use BSD for stuff not derived from GPL code.  OTOH, if there were
> any risk of a commercial company directly selling my code and choosing
> to 'embrace and extend' it, I don't think I'd hesitate much to use the GPL.

There are some of us who are willing to develop either free code or
commercial code, but who only want to develop commercial code if we're
getting paid for it.  While we might be happy to download and use
BSD-licensed programs, we're unlikely to spend significant time
contributing improvements to them, while we do contribute to GPL
programs.  That means using BSD turns off a certain subset of
potential volunteer contributors.  Microsoft already gives me enough
headaches sending me email viruses--the last thing I want to do is
work for them for free by letting them incorporate code that I write
into Windows.

Using GPL may also turn off some contributors; whether that number is
higher or lower, I can't know for certain.  But I do notice that the
most successful volunteer-initiated free software projects (e.g. Linux
kernel, GCC compiler) tend to be GPL.  (Projects like BSD, X Windows,
and maybe Apache, were initiated by people who were getting paid and
so this particular objection was neutralized for them.  The volunteers
who came or stuck around afterwards were of course self-selected for
being ok with those licenses).