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Date:      Fri, 18 May 2001 23:06:33 -0700
From:      "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com>
To:        "David Johnson" <djohnson@acuson.com>
Cc:        <freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   RE: [dn-core] Re: Perens' "Free Software Leaders Stand Together"
Message-ID:  <000101c0e029$dabbde00$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com>
In-Reply-To: <3B055F97.CEBDC854@acuson.com>

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>-----Original Message-----
>From: David Johnson [mailto:djohnson@acuson.com]
>Sent: Friday, May 18, 2001 10:45 AM
>To: Ted Mittelstaedt
>Cc: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG
>Subject: Re: [dn-core] Re: Perens' "Free Software Leaders Stand
>Together"
>
>
>Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>
>> Basically, what has happened is that Bruce and his friends
>> (the signatories on the list of that article are a who's
>> who of them) have literally made millions of dollars out of
>> in effect convincing a bunch of developers to GPL their
>> code, then those Open Source people have set themselves up
>> in the only point in the GPL code distributon scheme (the
>> nexus points) where it's possible to make a lot of money.
>
>Many of those signatories most assuredly are *not* GPL fanatics. Tim
>O'Reilly surely isn't.

Um, I happen to know that Tim O'Reilly has been approached with SEVERAL
FreeBSD book projects, including my own, and has turned them all down.
Well, mine is successful (at least, I'm told it is although I have yet
to see sales figures) and how smart is it for a book publisher to turn
down a successful book project and let a competitor take it?  That was a
political decision, not a professional one.

Ask Greg if he's had any luck shopping HIS book to O'Reilly.  Not that I
have any evidence that he ever has done so, but I'd be surprised if he
hasn't.  I wouldn't think that Wind River is going to want to be in the
book publishing business, and it's a natural and obvious move for The
Complete FreeBSD to go to O'Reilly.  Certainly it would enhance the book,
it would enhance O'Reilly, and it would help BSD penetration.

O'Reilly makes plenty of money off Linux, and has much vested interest
in GPL.  And, I didn't call them "fanatics", you just did.

>He's one of the very few who will call RMS out to
>a debate in a public forum. Larry Wall surely isn't. He came up with the
>Artistic License and his dual licensing scheme so that Perl could be
>accepted as "Free" by the GNU crowd while at the same time gutting every
>requirement in the GPL.

Note in the document that Larry Wall is identified as the author of Perl,
NOT
the author of the Artistic License.  Minor point perhaps, but I think if you
polled casual Linux users they would be surprised to find that Perl is not
under
GPL.  Certainly many, many, probably the majority of the Perl modules ARE
under
GPL and Perl isn't worth much without the modules.

>And Guido von Rossum isn't. Just last month he
>took RMS to task for continually changing the definition of
>GPL-compatibility, and said that compatibility with the GPL would no
>longer be a goal for the Python license.
>

OK - and what changes have been made in the Python license as a result?

>If this list consisted solely of Linux distributors and GNU board
>members, I would agree with you. But it appears that Bruce actually did
>try to get a broad slice of the Open Source community.
>

Except for any FreeBSD board members.  That is a hole large enough to drive
a semi truck through.  What your saying would make perfect sense if even 1
BSD, not even FreeBSD, person was listed there.

Ted Mittelstaedt                      tedm@toybox.placo.com
Author of:          The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide
Book website:         http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com



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