Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 20:23:44 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> To: brett@lariat.org (Brett Glass) Cc: tlambert@primenet.com (Terry Lambert), rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in (Rahul Siddharthan), freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Here is what IBM thinks about using FreeBSD on their newer Message-ID: <200012032023.NAA01195@usr05.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20001201190548.044fa3b0@localhost> from "Brett Glass" at Dec 01, 2000 07:22:17 PM
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> >He may have a point on scripts. Scripts are generally in > >the category "throw away code" (the same place I choose to > >put "fetchmail"), and so cost relatively little to create. > >If the creation cost is very low, then the amount one needs > >to benefit from the code in order to amortize developement > >costs is also very low, and so it could be that the value > >they get back would easily exceed the value they lose by > >releasing the code. > > The problem is that some programs written in "scripting > languages" are not throw-aways at all. Many companies who > add value to arcane systems by providing them with user- > friendly GUIs (of which Whistle was one!) do it via these > languages. I've worked for companies whose entire base of > IP (and expertise!) was embodied in Perl scripts. Sorry, this is wrong. All but a few lines of Whistle UI code is compiled C or C++. The code which is not was intended to be rewritten (i.e. thrown away) for performance reasons. I think companies whose entire base of IP is based on perl scripts are probably in a world of hurt in the first place, and really _deservee_ to go out of business, in the second, since they give lie to the "engineering" in the phrase "software engineering". Unless you have a methodology that can provide formal proof of correctness for Perl scripts? I've seen a number of companies that provide "performance monitoring tools for Java-based e-commerce soloutions"; I'll give you one for free: #!/bin/sh while true do sleep 300 echo "It's Java, what do you expect, moron?!?" done Don't get me wrong: scripting has it's place: o Startup o Shutdown o Installation o Deinstallation o One time configuration o Prototypes of code intended to be rewritten in compiled languages before large scale deployment takes place > It could be worse than that. Since FreeBSD is compiled by GCC, > he could set things up so that that any binary of FreeBSD that's > compiled by a GPL3ed version of GCC is considered to be a > "performance" of a GPLed program, with all of the effects that > this might entail. He has a strong incentive to do this, since > it would throw alternatives to Linux -- including BeOS! -- into > turmoil. I personally believe that Stallman, Perens, and > others WILL attempt to close this noose; it's just a matter of > WHEN they'll do it. This is unlikely, and would not be upheld by the courts. In particular, the act of the compilation is the performance, not the running of the compiled program. You could no more claim FreeBSD as a performance than you could claim that your CD player belonged to BMG because you place a CD by one of their artists. > >I also see it as being problematic for things like Linux, > >which unlike the FSF tools, accept contributions without > >having to have the rights granted to a single legal > >entity. The problem with that has always been that any > >author could claim version differences for their code > >contributed to the project. Having a trap-door clause > >that lets any author do the same with a performance > >clause will, I predict, open a can of worms that could > >kill the GPL for good. > > In theory, yes. But in practice, the FSF will own so much > code that's vital to projects such as FreeBSD that, protest > as they will, they'll be between a rock and a hard place. I > believe that by adopting any GPLed code at all, FreeBSD is > painting itself into a corner. YMMV, of course. In practice, so long as there is not an FSF monopoly in any region, this is not possible, and you are claiming that the sky is falling. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200012032023.NAA01195>