Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 22:17:13 -0700 (MST) From: Wes Peters <softweyr@xmission.com> To: Charles Mott <cmott@srv.net> Cc: chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: GPL Message-ID: <199702180517.WAA17000@obie.softweyr.ml.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.91.970217185359.2982A-100000@darkstar> References: <Pine.BSF.3.91.970217185359.2982A-100000@darkstar>
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Charles Mott writes:
> I have seen a number of back handed comments towards the GNU public
> license. For individualistic (not particularly rational) reasons, I
> prefer not to attach the GPL to any piece of free software I write. What
> is the complaint that others have with GPL?
The major complaint is that it restricts the use of the software
extensively. You cannot, for instance, distribute binary-only copies of
GPL'ed software. Nor can you sell derivative works of GPL'ed software.
The Berkeley licensing is so much less restrictive; if BSD had been
GPL'ed, SunOS would never have existed and UNIX would probably have slid
quietly by the wayside along with other good operating systems.
> That being said, I still have the highest respect for Stallman and the
> Free Software Foundation.
Ditto.
> FreeBSD could not exist were it not for gcc.
I'm not so sure about that. GCC is certainly the best freely available
C compiler, but it isn't the only one, and probably isn't the only good
one. Minix existed for quite some time without GCC, because the
creators of the Amsterdam Compiler Kit had the foresight of allowing
royalty free binary-only distributions. Quite the opposite of the GPL,
actually. ;^)
FreeBSD (& NetBSD & OpenBSD & BSDI & Linux) may have grown without GCC,
but probably would have required more work on the compiler, which would
have ultimately distracted work on the kernel and utilities.
> I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't quite a bit
> of other GNU software on the FreeBSD cdrom.
Some, but FreeBSD people make every effort to not put GPL'ed code into
the kernel and/or the essential kernel utilities. It is generally
possible to have a running FreeBSD system that does not rely on GPL'ed
code unless you need to rebuild the system; then you have to use the
compiler.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://www.xmission.com/~softweyr softweyr@xmission.com
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