licence discussions

Andrew was asking why nobody is responding to the licence discussions
here.  The answer is simple.  There is nothing new being raised.
The same people are saying the same things that they've said before.
Those things were discussed then.  They didn't like the answers,
so they continue, presumably in search of different answers.  There
will be no different answers to the same old tired issues.

As to your comments that the licence change is right but has made
XFree86 irrelevant: have you thought about what that means for the
future of volunteer Open Source projects?  This is not a business
for us, and "relevance" is in the eye of the beholder.  Sometimes
you have to dare to challenge accepted "wisdom" in order to bring
things back onto the right track.

For those who are uncomfortable with this approach, or believe that
XFree86 is dead, I suggest that you follow your instincts and move
to one of the alternative projects.  I'm sure you'll be happier
there.  I'd rather see you doing something productive elsewhere
than continuing to waste your time and everyone elses by rehashing
the same issues over and over here.

As for me, I believe that XFree86 is very much alive, and I am
excited about the Project's return to its roots.  The licensing
change is a reaffirmation of those roots and original goals, and I
believe that it was the only way to keep XFree86 alive.  XFree86's
strength is its developers and contributors.  I and the XFree86
board will not stand by and let their generosity be abused by those
who (a) want to tell volunteers what to do (including forcing them
to be public servants!); (b) have a vested interest in taking and
exploiting their contributions and misrepresenting them as their
own work; and (c) political and/or business reasons for forcing
"Open Source" into a particular direction.

Have you seen anything in common between the distros that are not
supporting XFree86 and those that are?  Is it just a coincidence
that the independently run distros (most of whom are relatively
small) have no problem giving due credit?  Giving credit is such
an onerous task that the little guy can do it, but the big guys
can't?  What's wrong with this picture?

I'm disappointed that many of the major distros have chosen to
discriminate against XFree86 and its licence when they have been
shipping other software for years with similar or more onerous
licences.  Basically, Andrew, the licence is an excuse for the major
vendors to switch to something that they can directly control.  A
switch that was in the works even before we considered our licensing
position.  We could change the licence back tomorrow and it would
make no difference to any of this.  But they are businsess, and
XFree86 is not.  If they cannot exert the level of control they'd
like over an existing volunteer project, like XFree86, then they
should re-form their own consortium/foundatation/whatever.  Just
don't believe everything they tell you.

I am not anti-business.  I just believe strongly that it an extreme
abuse when business interests exploit and manipulate *volunteers*.
That is just another name for slavery.

Finally, I'd rather spend the spare time that I have to devote to
XFree86 on development rather than on re-answering the same issues
over and over again.  If we let ourselves fall into that trap, then
XFree86 will surely die.  But then I believe that is the main reason
why XFree86's detractors will not let this issue rest.

David