Please participate, for real!

Please participate, for real!

Ingo,

I'm not sure I agree with you about what power we actually have over DRM.
Now would be a good time for me to point out that I sympathize with Linus
when he feels like the FSF was trying to co-opt Linux into the DRM fight.
I don't for a second believe that FSF would try and do that maliciously -
that is to say they would be happy to have Linux cooperation but I doubt
they'd try to get it with a hammer. (And indeed, Linux is GPLv2, and will
likely stay that way.)

The anti-DRM provision has really two aims. One is to keep free software
from being co-opted into devices and locked in such a way as to make it
unfree. And you're right when you say that the kernel is right up against
the metal and would feel the effects of this first. That's one of the
things I was pointing to in my last message - there's a certain class of
software that will really feel the effects of the anti-DRM provision
today.

To explain then why I think differently, I think that when Eben Moglen
says that the free software community has something the hardware
manufacturers need, he's right. Now, a big part of that 'thing' is Linux,
but as I said there is a lot more software out there. And as I said I'm
sure the FSF and perhaps some others would love to see Linus bring his
mighty muscles into the ring, but having spent a few years in LKML I dubt
Linus would :P.

Proprietary forms of production are beaten. And I know this is probably a
contentious point, and we could spend all day arguing it, but I'm really
not trying to tell you that you're wrong about GPLv3, even though I have
a different opinion. One of the things that always made the free software
revolution so special was that people could vote with their code. Merely
by doing what we love - doing what we do best - we can move solar
systems. And so for myself, and I believe many others who do support
GPLv3, it breaks down into:

1. We don't want to see our code abused and artificially locked up
2. We think we're becoming important enough that the time might be right
to flex a little muscle.

I say these things in the midst of developing a project (trying to get a
first alpha done) that is the sort of thing that might end up on an
embedded device. If no manufacturer ever embeds it, hey, that's okay - I
think its real value is mostly elsewhere anyway. If it does get embedded,
and no manufacturer tries to lock DRM on it since it runs in user-space,
great. In this case, the anti-DRM provision wasn't needed. But if it does
get embedded, and a manufacturer does lock DRM on it, clearly against my
wishes, I have legal recourse to make them stop.

And you know, I'm not even sure that manufacturers in 2006 want to lock
DRM onto projects like mine because they're not being forced to at
gunpoint. But it's about closing a loophole too. RMS has made some pretty
important predictions in the past (patents, etc) that have come true. And
so if RMS says "DRM is going to be a problem," and we look around in our
own neighborhood and see hardware manufacturers competing over who can
make the more stringent DRM, you've got to bet we're listening.

So I suspect that you disagree with me, perhaps on some factual grounds
(me saying proprietary software is dead) and perhaps on some opinionated
ones as well. When Linus said no GPLv3 for Linux some time ago, I was
disappointed. But I have nothing more than a small semantics fix patch in
mainline and a small bugfix in -ck. And I think both of those things even
came after Linus said "no GPLv3". So even if I'm disappointed, I'm not
delusional. I know that my only say would be the say of a user, which in
our community is far less important than the say of a real developer.

The reason I replied to you is over the same reason that I got pretty
frustrated with Linus recently. I know we don't agree on the GPLv3, but
that doesn't stop some of us from wanting it. And it seemed like Linus
was out in the press being dishonest about the FSF's drafting process and
intentions. Whether or not he was trying to damage the FSF or its
reputation is beside the point; it's red hot fire we don't need. We think
we have a right to have our GPLv3, and if Linus and LKML don't like it,
that's totally okay. (Let me point out that I'm not trying to paint you
with the same brush here, I'm responding to you because you seemed pretty
upset about the fact we're even moving forward with the license.)

So we're talking about GPLv3 in context of the Busybox maintainer
quitting. That's a sad event. But doesn't this just go to illustrate that
the more irrationally crazed we all get over these license debates, the
more damage we will see and the more pain we will feel?

> Please stop this licensing madness before it's not too late! We have
> already wasted too much time and effort on this, and the new license
> has not even been released. At the sight of this self-destruction of a
> once powerful community Microsoft must be laughing all the way to the
> bank.

If you don't like GPLv3, please say so. But please do so in a way that is
fair to all the participants, and in a way that doesn't cause more
trauma.

I'll say one more thing. Eben has re-invited the participation of kernel
developers in the licensing discussion. I think there's still another
discussion draft due before the final license in January. You have a real
concern about this anti-DRM provision, but right now the two communities
have just been lobbing press releases at each other. It would be very
much appreciated not only by the FSF, but by me personally and I'm sure a
lot of other people if you and some of the other developers would accept
Eben's invitation, and if you would ask your colleagues to join you. This
'licensing madness' will not stop if that's all you think of it, but if
some kernel people start to plug in to the process rather than just
yelling about it from afar (which damages your credibility in some
people's eyes, by the way) we might see some careful alterations to the
anti-DRM provision that would at least make you _less_ worried. Are you
willing to do that?