Re: GNU FDL 1.2 draft comment summary posted, and RFD (fwd)
Nick Phillips <nwp@nz.lemon-computing.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 12, 2002 at 05:34:36PM -0700, Mark Rafn wrote:
>
> > Here we're getting to the crux of #3. Why is it harder to misrepresent
> > someone with software than with documents? Is it simply that it's easier
> > to modify a document, so the freedom is expected to be used by a wider
> > variety of people?
>
> No, it's because it's possible to make subtle changes to a document that
> will *completely* alter its function, which is much harder (usually),
> with software.
I don't think that it would be that hard for me to modify GPG to email
everyone's secret key to me. Or to make ssh search out hosts with
weak root passwords. Or to automatically translate every document in
Abiword into pig-Latin. Or any of a hundred different things. If
you're not comfortable with people advocating baby-seeking missles
using your documents, then use a non-free license. I'm not saying
that you're a bad person for doing so. However, it is less useful to
everyone else. The non-free archive is full of software by people who
have similar concerns.
If you're worried that you will be falsely associated with repugnant
ideas, then don't put your name on it. The "bad" people may put it
in, though. The only way to guarantee that it won't change to your
dislike it to make it non-modifiable.
In any case, if it is serious, you can always sue for libel. If you
can't sue, then it really isn't a big deal. I think that entirely too
much is being made out of the possibility of misuse. Free software is
being used for all sorts of things that people might find distasteful
(e.g. nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons). Get over it.
Oy! I can see why the FSF got sucked into created the non-free GFDL.
Regards,
Walter Landry
wlandry@ucsd.edu
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-legal-request@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
Reply to: