On Wed, 2003-08-27 at 23:09, Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS wrote: > Brian T. Sniffen <bts@alum.mit.edu>: > > > But the FSF is exploiting its monopoly position with regard to Emacs > > to do things which it does not permit further distributors to do. The > > Emacs manual claims to be part of Emacs, but only the FSF, as the > > copyright holder of both works, can distribute a combined work of > > Emacs and the Emacs Manual. I cannot distribute a package consisting > > of Emacs and Brian's GFDL'd Emacs Manual, because the GPL does not > > permit me to link my GFDL'd text&code with Emacs. > > Don't worry. This will be "solved" in GPLv3 ... > Ya know, I was always sure that "or (at your option) any later version" header people blindly add to their source would turn out to be a Bad Thing. Imagine... GPLv3 with Invariant Sections... Microsoft take Linux and add a bunch of code to it, maybe something really handy like the ability to run Win32 apps natively. But there's a catch, their code checks with a server that the user has sold their first-born to MS first. They then mark the whole lot Invariant. Or maybe something a little more down-to-earth. A vendor takes a popular GPL application and adds their own features inside a .o file. But you can't modify that! Oh, it's Invariant, I couldn't anyway. RMS's attempt at separating the "free software" ideals from the "open source" ideals seems to be working, but not as he intended. "Open source" seems much more attractive now, after all, the very definition[0] of "open source" states: The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software. Whereas the FSF[1] don't believe in allowing modification anymore, unless it's to a bit the copyright holder doesn't mind being changed, of course. Scott [0] http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php [1] perhaps they should change their name to the NFDF? -- Have you ever, ever felt like this? Had strange things happen? Are you going round the twist?
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