GNU/Busybox ?!? [LWN.net]

GNU/Busybox ?!?

Posted Mar 22, 2007 16:14 UTC (Thu) by landley (guest, #6789)
In reply to: GNU/Busybox ?!? by NigelK
Parent article: The road to freedom in the embedded world

> It's part of the motivation to do something for the community. There
> are few totally unselfish acts in the world.

I'm not in it for praise. I do lots of things anonymously, things I'll
never get credit for and didn't _ask_ to get credit for, things nobody
will ever even notice unless they're _not_ done.

But it PISSES ME OFF when somebody else takes credit for my work (yes if
you steal a street sign, or a public urinal, or charity donations, it's
still theft). It offends me about as much when I can prove they're doing
it to others (ala Bruce Perens claiming credit for the seven years Erik
Andersen spent turning the abandoned toy version of BusyBox into a real
project). It adds insult to injury when they use stolen credit for my
work to promote a poltical platform I disagree with.

Adding retroactive strings to their own work ("I know you thought this
was a gift but here's the price") is kind of slimy and annoying too, but
I can ignore that by itself. Phrased as a _request_ that one's fine.

(Log in to post comments)

GNU/Busybox ?!?

Posted Mar 22, 2007 18:18 UTC (Thu) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

To be pedantic, stealing charity donations is theft (the original owner no longer possesses the donations). Likewise stealing a street sign.

Taking credit for something that is not your work is not theft (well, not in UK law and I'd be astonished to find it's theft in any common-law country). Misrepresentation may or may not be an offence: intent is all, as is usual in the law. Promoting a political platform you disagree with is also not a crime (well, not in non-totalitarian regimes, anyway, and I can't really see how one could use any piece of non-censorware to promote a political platform. Busybox ls is a political statement now?!)

(disclaimer: IANAL but seemingly half my relatives are various forms of IP lawyer so I hear a lot of this sort of stuff...)