Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 20:13:49 +0200 (EET) From: Narvi <narvi@haldjas.folklore.ee> To: Arun Sharma <adsharma@sharmas.dhs.org> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: On "intelligent people" and "dangers to BSD" Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.1000318200847.13688k-100000@haldjas.folklore.ee> In-Reply-To: <200003181755.JAA18402@sharmas.dhs.org>
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On Sat, 18 Mar 2000, Arun Sharma wrote: > > Another money-making scheme, directly off the GPL, is what Peter > > Deutsch did for Ghostscript (though this is not something > > Stallman approved of): he has three licensing schemes, the GPL > > for year-old software, a very restrictive "free licence" for the > > latest version, and a commercial licence. > > This just conforms to the letter of GPL, but not the spirit of GPL. Errr... First - who cares about teh spirit? It was mutilated to death many years ago. Besides, it confirms even to the spirit pretty well. Nobody is stopping you from taking teh GPL version and independently developing the features that are in the newest version, releasing those and from then on staying on teh top. The cost is just too high. > > My intent is not to start a GPL/BSD flamewar. I'm only saying the > > GPL thing is not as black as it is painted out to be. > > Actually, I find that the popular press (Slashdot and other Linux mags) > paint GPL whiter than it actually is. Free software related items on > Slashdot for example, feature a GNU icon. I'm not saying that Slashdot > is representative, but for the uninitiated, the nicer side of GPL is > more visible than the problematic side. Slashdot isn't exactly an unbiased medium... > > > Also, it's not only software, but in the age of quick and easy digital > > copying, the whole copyright scheme has to be rethought. > > What's your proposal ? I don't think anyone can pass a law asking > people to make all software free for public good. Only commercial > enforcement of copyright laws becoming unviable, can change the > status quo. But if there is enough money at stake, people will find > ways of "digitally" enforcing copyright. > You mean the likes of UITA(sp?)? > > The current situation, of further and stricter controls on digital > > copying being introduced every year, will work only in a police > > state. Stallman's ideas are one possible answer for software, which > > few people will accept, but his vocalness means people at least start > > thinking about the issue instead of pretending it doesn't exist. For > > music/creative writing/etc, Stallman himself agrees that a GPL-style > > copyleft would not be a good idea. > > Do you have a reference to Stallman's statement on music etc ? Given > the current controversy surrounding DVDs/MP3s/Free documentation license/ > Free content license etc, I find it a little bit surprising. > > -Arun > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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