Non GPL Python MySQL Client Library.

[John J. Lee]

paul at boddie.net (Paul Boddie) writes:
[...]
> I'm starting to believe that these libraries
> aren't trivial at all if it results in a lengthy rant about the
> situation.
[...]

Paul, I believe the point to which Mike was drawing attention was
unrelated to anybody's definition of the word 'trivial' <wink>.

His claim was that there exists a size of library below which nobody
producing software of any value will be persuaded by the existence of
that library to switch to a free license.  So (he argues), for any
code below that level of triviality, it's pointless to GPL, because it
causes duplication of effort.

Of course, this argument misses the point that the GPL isn't only
there to garner converts to the GPL cause.  It's also there
*precisely* to stop the authors of a piece of non-free code from
gaining any benefit at all from the work of GPL authors.  Seems fair
enough to me.  From the point of view of a GPL author, duplication of
effort by an author of non-free code may well be a good thing.

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.


John