Re: licensing

On Sat, Oct 18, 2003 at 09:53:41AM +0800, Justin Clift wrote:
> Jeff Kinz wrote:
> > Use GPL. BSD allows other parties to take the software private, and not
> > share their changes. This enables parties like Microsoft to "embrace
> > and extend" existing API's and standards creating a proprietary lock-in
> > where none existed before.
> > 
> > GPL prevents that from happening.
> 
> This is *so wrong* on so many levels.
I ** strongly ** disagree.  (look Ma, I got asterisks too!)
(I'll see your two *'s and raise you two. ) :-)


> 
> The example company you are using here - Microsoft - has generally shown 
> little regard for *any* license being used and has grabbed code from 
> *proprietory* software before as well.

Please read Eben Moglen's descriptions of how the GPL is enforced by
direct actions taken every year.  
http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/publications/lu-13.html

Is Microsoft violating the GPL?  Please Drop Professor Moglen a line
and a pointer to what code they are using and what product they are
using it in.  Also please post it to this list, I want to know about it
too!.
> 
> Even the companies that *do* use BSD licensed software in their products 
> give back to the community - i.e. Apple.
Some do. which means they are behaving as though the code was GPL'd
rather than BSD Licensed.  Hmmmm. Wonder why? I don't.


> > Real world experience shows us that GPL style licenses are much more
> > successful than BSD licenses at producing large, successful communities
> > of both developers and end-user's. For a project to succeed, both are
> > needed.
> 
> No.  There are lots of large projects using each.  Linux - a GPL based 
> project - is huge, but that doesn't necessarily mean the GPL is the 
> driving factor of the community size, but instead it can mean that the 
> particular software meets the needs of the community members better than 
> the alternatives.  i.e. Same as normal market demands.

I think your comment about market demands is spot on. But I would like
to point out that part of why Linux is meeting the market demands so
well and why the Linux code base has grown so rapidly is because of the
GPL licensing. People are attracted to GPL projects in part because
being part of a GPL licensed software project means your work will
always be visible to the public and nobody can (legally) steal it and
make money off it without your involvement. Clearly that isn't the only
reason, but it is part of it.  Its a form of virtual immortality.


But back to the original point - which license is better for the South
African Gov't to use ?   Is there anything the BSD license provides that
would make it a better fit than GPL?


-- 
Jeff Kinz, Open-PC, Emergent Research,  Hudson, MA.  [email protected]
copyright 2003.  Use is restricted. Any use is an 
acceptance of the offer at http://www.kinz.org/policy.html.
Don't forget to change your password often.