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Date:      Thu, 20 Dec 2001 06:58:49 -0700
From:      Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
To:        Jeremy Karlson <karlj000@unbc.ca>, "Gary W. Swearingen" <swear@blarg.net>
Cc:        chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: GPL nonsense: time to stop
Message-ID:  <4.3.2.7.2.20011220065451.02653af0@localhost>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0112200149520.29122-100000@ugrad.unbc.ca>
References:  <b2itb2y1nh.tb2@localhost.localdomain>

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At 03:00 AM 12/20/2001, Jeremy Karlson wrote:

>Okay, "proprietary" is perhaps not a good word, but I still can't think of
>a better one.

Try "commercial." GPLed software cannot be commercial, because it
cannot be the object of commerce. Yes, you can sell a disc with
the software ON it for money, but you cannot license the software
ITSELF for money. 

>What I was getting at is that even if Stallman were to
>change the license on his "free software," users would always have the
>ability to grab an older version and fork development at that point.  

Yes, but then they would have to maintain a parallel version which
there is no economic incentive to develop (because the current GPL
already precludes any reward for doing so). 

>PS - I've seen that "Open Sources" book around a few times, and I thought
>it might be an interesting read, but I've always thought it's probably
>pretty Linux and GPL preachy.  Is it actually worth my time to read?

McKusick's essay in that book is worth a read. Stallman and Perens'
contributions are pure propaganda.

--Brett


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