Picking a license

[Patrick Maupin]

On May 9, 12:19 am, Steven D'Aprano <st... at REMOVE-THIS-
cybersource.com.au> wrote:
> On Sat, 08 May 2010 16:39:33 -0700, Carl Banks wrote:
> > GPL is about fighting a holy war against commercial software.
>
> Much GPL software *is* commercial software. Given that you're so badly
> misinformed about the GPL that you think it can't be commercial, why
> should we pay any attention to your opinions about it?

I think, when Carl wrote "commercial" he meant what many others,
including RMS, would call "proprietary."  And, although many people
who use the GPL license may not be fighting the holy war, the original
author of the license certainly is.  When asked how he sees
proprietary software businesses making a profit when more and more
software is free, RMS replied "That's unethical, they shouldn't be
making any money. I hope to see all proprietary software wiped out.
That's what I aim for. That would be a World in which our freedom is
respected. A proprietary program is a program that is not free. That
is to say, a program that does respect the user's essential rights.
That's evil. A proprietary program is part of a predatory scheme where
people who don't value their freedom are drawn into giving it up in
order to gain some kind of practical convenience."

And while I agree somewhat with RMS when the subject is certain
proprietary companies that try really hard to lock in users and lock
up their data, I don't view all proprietary software as evil, and I
certainly agree that RMS's language is couched in religious rhetoric.

Regards,
Pat