Re: Mostly free software...
On Thu, Mar 25, 1999 at 07:48:46PM -0600, David Starner wrote:
> Philip Hands wrote:
> > If they are doing commercial software, let them develop it
> > themselves, and stop trying to muddy the waters with almost-free
> > licenses that dupe people into doing their development for them.
>
> "Dupe people"? The situation is totally clear. If people want to develop
> for them, they can, knowing that their work will get used in a semi-free
> program. (Note the amount of work that went into BSD before it was freed
> from AT&T license entanglments, and probably before that was even
> thought of. They, too, knew what they were doing.) It's the developer's
> choice.
>
> I also find it very weird to tell someone that they should make closed
> programs instead of semi-free ones.
But you're still missing the point that that particular project was
started to "give Linus a SCM tool to develop free sw" !
Giving this, and assuming that Linus will adopt it, then all free sw
people will start to think that they also have to use it, and that its
license is good, and other tools sux, etc.
Giving that goal, why they didn't simply join one of the several GPL
SCM tool development that are all around and improve it to meet Linus'
needs? They could even fork the development of aonther tool if the
original developers desagree.
No, they start from scratch, because the NEED to make a proprietary
program that WILL be used (gratis) by all the free developers. This huge
user mass will give to their tool a patent of quality wich isn't
necessarily inside the sw (although I will bet thet it will have a lot).
The idea that you MUST keep sw proprietary to get bucks from it is an
excuse. Authors of great sw (Linus, Wall, ...) are payed much much more
than what I can even desire simply because they have written it, and not
because they own it or not.
In the past, authors of great sw (proprietary of others) didn't get such
well-payd jobs because they weren't allowed to keep the sw with them.
GPLing your software protect your futur!
fab
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