Re: Economics and the GPL (Matt Seitz)

Matt Seitz <[email protected]> wrote:

> If you want to use all the code, and that code was written by 5 people, then
> you have to get permission from all 5 people.  I don't see what is unfair about
> that.

You're making an assumption that getting a hold of the contributers is even POSSIBLE.
Look at Xemacs where it isn't.  Funny how rms bemoans the distinction between "pure"
GPLed programs and impure ones (like xemacs).  This is especially true if the
project isn't strictly managed.
 
> > How is unfair competition from the proprietary GPL codebase any better than
> > unfair competition (e.g. dumping IE) from a proprietary corporation like
> > Microsoft?
> Again, I think we agree:  if the GPL codebase were a monopoly, then it could be
> as harmful as Microsoft's dumping of IE.  Until then, I don't see it as
> "unfair".

If I add 1 undeserved point to my score, am I cheating? - even if my opponent is
winning 
by 99 points?  Why does market share alter why it's unfair?  You can say the effects
are minimal UNTIL it has a sizeable market share, but I fail to see why that makes it 
right.

> > But yes, at least placing a cash value on code consitutes a neutral basis
> > for trade.  The valuation may be subjective, but it's always negotiable.
> It is not my experience that prices are always negotiable. 

That's because you buy in low quantity.  The higher your quantity, the more the
price is negotiable (assuming available quantities aren't fixed).  

> In fact, my experience is the opposite:  usually a price is a take it or leave it
> propositition.

knowing some people who love to haggle, you'd be amazed at how non-fixed some
prices are.  

> In that sense, I don't see the GPL as being any different than
> placing a fixed price tag on any good or service.

But the price isn't FIXED.  You can't say, "I'll do this for 100 lines for code."
 
> I agree, this is a weakness of GPL, and I think there is room for improvement.
> But I don't see the GPL terms as so unreasonable, so outrageous, that they
> should be dismissed and never used.

why not use MPL (or any other reasonable copyleft) instead?  

-r