Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 23:40:47 -0500 (EST) From: "John S. Dyson" <toor@dyson.iquest.net> To: unknown@riverstyx.net Cc: nathan@rtfm.net, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Free VMWare and open BIOS! Message-ID: <199905270440.XAA09114@dyson.iquest.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.04.9905261055300.2115-100000@hades.riverstyx.net> from "unknown@riverstyx.net" at "May 26, 99 10:56:05 am"
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> > He's labouring under the belief that GPL authors seek out commercial code > and attempt to subvert their markets by cloning the software. > From what I can see, there is NO aggressive attempt (conspiracy) on the part of GPL advocates to seek out and destroy commercial software in general. However, it is clear (yet another posting on USENET), that there are significant numbers of people not understanding some of the regressive aspects of GPL. There are also some aspects of hatred in the computer community towards certain vendors and certain classes of individuals (developers), and by building a zealous community based upon that is going to eventually lead to self-destructive behavior. Licenses are *tools*, and sometimes there are unintended effects of any tool (busted finger with a hammer, broken screwdriver being used as a crowbar, or destroying an auto's brake system by using the wrong type of fluid :-(). GPL is the kind of tool that has a very focused effect, isn't well proven legally, and is likely being used like the screwdriver above all too often. IMO, the best attitude about licenses is to try to convince people to read the license and understand the short and long term effects before pasting them on the top of a program. Also, TRY to convince people to educate themselves on which licensed software package is worthless to invest lots and lots of effort on, and which licensed software package that allows you to capitalize on their own creativity. For those people who use software as a black-box (therefore don't see any disadvantages to GPL), it is also good to educate them as to the fact that given free license terms (as opposed to the non free GPL) developers can support themselves as DEVELOPERS. It is a socially very good thing to support those who give away lots of hard work to the user base. If the developers are given very little advantage, then the stagnation of the "not necessarily evil, but definitely too powerful empire" will be exchanged for the stagnation of the GPL "it isn't worth developing based from this platform." Alas, long term thinking is now totally missing, and as such, GPL will very effectively seduce parts of the industry into mediocracy, reinventing the results of real work and innovation. Hopefully, both free and commercial software will overtake that stagnating carbon-copy influence. John To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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