Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 13:39:07 -0800 From: "David Schwartz" <davids@webmaster.com> To: "Jonathon McKitrick" <jcm@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>, "Terry Lambert" <tlambert@primenet.com> Cc: <freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: Your misconceptions about the GPL Message-ID: <000001bf35fb$2ba2dba0$021d85d1@youwant.to> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.02A.9911232123010.58822-100000@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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> On Tue, 23 Nov 1999, Terry Lambert wrote: > >Actually, it can restrict the original copyright holder from > >integrating patches sent to him by people whose access to the > >code was the result of them obtaining it via GPL, since the > >patches are derivative of the GPL'ed work. > If the product is distributed in source code anyway, how does this make a > difference? Won't the improvements be incorporated one way or the other? > -jm Suppose you develop a product and distribute it under the GPL instead of the BSD license. One possible reason you might do that is you think, "Well, I can sell exceptions to the GPL and maybe still make money." But suppose that once your software is released, several other developers make enhancements to it. And they make those enhancements public. You cannot include those enhancements in the versions you attempt to license for a fee. Over time, the value of the source code you originally released becomes less than zero. The enhanced versions, after all, are available to anyone for free, and your version is missing features their versions have. You have to be able to keep adding more value to your source than the rest of the world put together in order for your exceptions to have significant value. DS To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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