Python license (was RE: Python plug-ins for Adobe Products available)

[Grant Griffin]

In article <LNBBLJKPBEHFEDALKOLCKEAHGNAA.tim_one at email.msn.com>, "Tim says...
>
>[Tim]
>> ...
>> We also want Python to remain GPL-*compatible*, and CNRI has changed
>> some of the language in response to Richard Stallman's objections.
>
>[Grant Griffin]
>> The following pointed question is directed at CNRI, not
>> you, Tim, but...
>>
>>    _Who died and left *Stallman* in charge_?
>
>I don't think CNRI reads comp.lang.python, so I guess I'll have to take a
>crack at it myself:  we did <wink -- although we're not quite dead yet!>.
>AFAIK, asking RMS to get involved was our idea, not CNRI's.  So don't blame
>them for this one!  Many dozens of Python projects rely on GPL compatibility
>today, and we don't want to see them get screwed. 

Sorry if I already missed it, but what in the heck is "GPL compatibility"?   We
in the Peanut Gallery aren't privy to the details of the license being
considered, but AFAICT, Python's old (beloved) license was not what one might
call "GPL compatible" in that it had virtually no restrictions.  (The GPL
preserves freedom mainly by restricting.  That Richard Stallman is a genius!) 
So how was the _old_ one "GPL compatible"?  (I'm confused...)

>While I'm not directly
>involved in the negotiations, I've seen much of the email traffic about it,
>and RMS has been extremely helpful in explaining his concerns and even
>suggesting specific changes to CNRI's language that he would accept.  If GPL
>compatibility is something you want to assure, can you think of anyone
>better to ask than RMS?  I sure can't.  Whether you like him or not,

Don't get me wrong, I like _him_ just fine: it's mainly his ideas and methods
that I disapprove of. <wink>

>he's
>the most competent enitity in the universe to address GPL issues.

Sorry but I'm confused again...if a qualified lawyer can't become a greater
authority on a license after studying it for a bit (at $200 an hour <wink>) than
a genius-level Computer Scientist (at $200 an hour <wink>), said contract
probably isn't worth the bits it's written on--at least not to The Party of the
First Part and The Party of the Second Part.

Isn't the law run mainly by lawyers?

(BTW, does anybody know if the GPL ever been tested in court?)

>And he's
>been a good friend to Python despite that it wasn't released under a GNU
>license.

Now _that's_ what I like about him: he's flexible. <wink>

(i-guess-stallman-isn't-the-root-of-all-square-meanness-after-all
   -<wink>)-ly y'rs,

=g2
p.s.  I think one day, Richard Stallman will be remembered for helping create a
great movement he never intended: "free software" in the Python, not GPL sense.

_____________________________________________________________________

Grant R. Griffin                                       g2 at dspguru.com
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