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Mark Shuttleworth on companies and free software

Posted May 17, 2011 17:42 UTC (Tue) by apolinsky (subscriber, #19556)
In reply to: Mark Shuttleworth on companies and free software by nye
Parent article: Mark Shuttleworth on companies and free software

I see nothing obnoxious in Mr. Shuttleworth's comments. Having used Linux since Slackware 2.2, I find them right on. Ubuntu is a wonderful derivative of Debian. It is easy to install and use. I've found my entire family can use it without a problem, whereas if I asked them to boot up my Centos, Debian, or Slackware machines they would have significant difficulties. They have installed software without an issue. Movies can be watched, if desired, without having to wonder if the 'codecs' are free or not. Unpleasant, no. Realistic yes.

Alan

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Posted May 17, 2011 17:54 UTC (Tue) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link]

I think describing "I'm willing to give you a significant body of code that I've written and which makes your software better, but I'm not willing to give you a copyright grant" as ungenerous is pretty obnoxious.

Mark Shuttleworth on companies and free software

Posted May 18, 2011 8:09 UTC (Wed) by michaeljt (subscriber, #39183) [Link]

> I think describing "I'm willing to give you a significant body of code that I've written and which makes your software better, but I'm not willing to give you a copyright grant" as ungenerous is pretty obnoxious.

Questions of obnoxiousness aside, copyright assignment probably does discourage people from making "significant" contributions to projects.

Mark Shuttleworth on companies and free software

Posted May 17, 2011 18:00 UTC (Tue) by jspaleta (subscriber, #50639) [Link]

None of those benefits of Ubuntu that you enjoy express relate to the issue of copyright assignment for contributions to (A/L)GPL'd codebases to for-profit entities such as Canonical.

A disagreement with Shuttleworth over this issue is not an attack on Ubuntu or the Ubuntu community. A refusal to sign Canonical's contributor disagreement is not a disavowal of the Ubuntu CoC or the Ubuntu community ethos.

Don't let your enthusiasm for Ubuntu and for the Ubuntu community model cloud your judgment about the issues here concerning the balance between the interests of for-profit entities and the interests of the larger ecosystem with regard to the importance of a shared commons of peer co-development. These are really important issues for the overall ecosystem that go well beyond simple distribution tribalism.

-jef