Picking a license

[Patrick Maupin]

On May 14, 8:04 am, Ethan Furman <et... at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
> Steven D'Aprano wrote:

>> You've never had to recode something because it was nominally available
>> under a proprietary licence that you (or your client) was unwilling to
>> use? Lucky you!

> Steven, did you actually read what he wrote?  If you did, why would you
> say something so stupid?

Well, in Steven's defense, my literal words "... labor that could have
been spent elsewhere if someone else had done something differently.
The only time that comes into play in my programming life is when I
have to recode something that is nominally available under the GPL..."
could easily be taken to mean that I have never had to recode
something that was under a proprietary license.

In truth most of what any of us write is probably very similar to
stuff that others have written, so taken in a very literal sense, yes,
obviously, there are several times that I have had to recode
proprietary software.  But I was responding to Brendan's "broken
window" analogy, and, rightly or wrongly, I *assumed* he was only
referring to software that was free *at one time* but then was somehow
taken out of the commons.  To my knowledge, I've never recoded such
software, and to the extent that anybody might be suggesting that
*all* software belongs in an easily-accessible commons and that nobody
should ever have to recode anything -- well, I could probably be
seduced by the Utopian vision, but I strongly reject that the sort of
rights-pooling mandated by the GPL is the single way to get there.

If everybody believes in the Utopian vision, the GPL is rendered
unnecessary, and to the extent that some people *really* don't believe
in the Utopian vision, the wording of the GPL makes a gentle
transition from proprietary to free difficult for programmers with
feet in both camps.  However, the GPL *does* provide a core focal
point for the actual Utopian vision itself, and this does serve a
useful purpose.  Personally, I think we are gradually lurching towards
the Utopian vision, and probably at a faster pace than if we only had
the GPL or if we only had permissive licenses.  I think even RMS
believes this; as a matter of practicality he will suggest the LGPL or
even permissive licensing under some circumstances.

Regards,
Pat