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GPL is the big edge of Linux over the BSDsGPL is the big edge of Linux over the BSDsPosted Sep 1, 2006 0:50 UTC (Fri) by emkey (guest, #144)In reply to: GPL is the big edge of Linux over the BSDs by dwheeler Parent article: The future of NetBSD
Agreed on pretty much all fronts. I happen to think that GPL like licences are generally superior to all other alternatives. Where I differ from some people is in my belief that there are in fact cases where the GPL either isn't the best choice or isn't realistic. In the end the market will decide. And that is as it should be. Artificially forcing others into corners is only going to tend to isolate and weaken those who advocate such an approach.
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GPL license vs. BSD license - is goal tech transfer or a living project? Posted Sep 1, 2006 5:00 UTC (Fri) by dwheeler (subscriber, #1216) [Link] Obviously, a license choice should depend on your goals. But let's look more carefully at that statement, maybe we can see what license tends to be better for different purposes.If your goal is to get an idea or approach widely used to the largest possible extent, a permissive license like the BSD (or MIT) license has much to offer. Anyone can quickly snap up the code and use it. Much of the TCP/IP code (at least for tools) in Windows was originally from BSD, I believe; there are even some copyright statements still in it. But don't expect the public code to be maintained by those who take and modify the code. I haven't noticed a large number of Microsoft developers being paid to improve any of the *BSDs, even though they share the same code ancestries. If your goal is to have a useful program that stays useful long-term, then a protective license like the LGPL or GPL licenses have much to offer. They force the cooperation that is good for everyone in the long term, if a long-term useful project is the goal. In general, I've noticed that GPL projects are far less likely to fork than BSD-licensed projects; the GPL completely eliminates any financial advantage to forking. Yes, companies could voluntarily cooperate without a license forcing them to. The *BSDs try to depend on this. But it today's cutthroat market, that's more like the "Prisoner's Dilemma". In the dilemma, it's better to cooperate, but since the other guy might choose not cooperate and exploit your naivete, so you'd better not cooperate. Even there, I don't think that it's all that simple. Again, the Apache web server does well with its BSD-ish license. But packages like Linux, gcc, Samba, and so on all show that the GPL does work.
One person who agrees with you... Posted Sep 1, 2006 20:38 UTC (Fri) by GreyWizard (subscriber, #1026) [Link] One person who agrees with you that the GNU GPL is not the best choice for all circumstances: Richard Stallman.
One person who agrees with you... Posted Sep 4, 2006 14:39 UTC (Mon) by branden (subscriber, #7029) [Link] One person who agrees with you that the GNU GPL is not the best choice for all circumstances: Richard Stallman. Why do you insist upon uttering Fnordances when you know good and well that the only people who are capable of being surprised by this will never let the fact enter their brains? :)
One person who agrees with you... Posted Sep 7, 2006 20:20 UTC (Thu) by dwheeler (subscriber, #1216) [Link] I'm not sure if you meant to "start a fight", but if I take your statement literally, that is of course true. Stallman has been VERY consistent in insisting that his goal is NOT universal use of the GPL (or LGPL), but that his goal is universal deployment of Free software (as the FSF defines it). I even specifically noted that Stallman occasionally encourages the use of non-GPL licenses in my essay Make Your Open Source Software GPL-Compatible. Or Else., which I originally posted in 2002. There I note the same example you did - Stallman encouraged the switch of the Ogg folks from a GPL-style license to a BSD-style license, because of the larger circumstances they were in.
One person who agrees with you... Posted Sep 7, 2006 21:05 UTC (Thu) by GreyWizard (subscriber, #1026) [Link] I was responding to emkey's comment, which said, "Where I differ from some people is in my belief that there are in fact cases where the GPL either isn't the best choice or isn't realistic." I don't know if emkey meant to write "free software" instead of "GPL" there, but that comment was in reply to yours about the difference between the BSD and the GNU GPL licences so I assumed there was no mistake.
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