Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 17:22:06 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: Stefanos Kiakas <stefanos@dns1.e-scape.net> Cc: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: GPLvsBSD madness Message-ID: <36EB012E.B78B91E1@softweyr.com> References: <199903132205.RAA13733@dns1.e-scape.net>
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Stefanos Kiakas wrote:
>
> I've been reading the messages posted here about GPL and BSD
> licensing issues and I have only one thing to say: Get over it!
>
> Whether you write one paper or a thousand papers on the subject
> it will not make a difference to the average user whether they should
> use FreeBSD or Linux. Most people do not care, nor will they care any
> differently after reading your paper, unless they are in the minority
> of people with specific needs. This small minority will make a decision
> which will compliment their goals.
>
> Both the GPL and BSD licenses are tools and will be used as
> required.
Both are tools, but neither are "used as required." Most developers
who release code under any license don't understand the ramifications
of the license, and generally don't spend much time thinking about the
license, they make an emotional decision based on their perceptions of
projects like FreeBSD, Linux, and Apache.
A widely disseminated, well-written article that discusses the relative
merits and weaknesses of each would a great service to developers
everywhere. A good starting point would the article about why you
SHOULD consider using the LGPL for your next library in the current
issue of Linux Gazette. Interestingly enough, the writer of that
article works for a healthcare consortium that releases their code
under a Berkeley license. He raises the "advertising" issue that
Terry deflected so well. I've NEVER in a nearly 20-year UNIX career
seen an advertisement that mentioned "the Regents of the University
of California at Berkeley," and have wondered several times what all
the hullabaloo is about.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr wes@softweyr.com
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