Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 00:35:45 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> To: rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in (Rahul Siddharthan) Cc: jef53313@bayou.uh.edu, stuyman@confusion.net, asmodai@wxs.nl, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG, kkennawa@physics.adelaide.edu.au Subject: Re: Some thoughts on advocacy (was: Slashdot ftp.cdrom.com upgra Message-ID: <199905030035.RAA15364@usr05.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.10.9905030346550.7672-100000@theory1.physics.iisc.ernet.in> from "Rahul Siddharthan" at May 3, 99 04:09:39 am
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> You are confusing the GPL with the GNU manifesto. The GPL is an instrumentality of the GNU Manifesto, and not a very good one, at that. A better instrumentality of the GNU Manifesto is the Cygnus eCOS license: http://www.cygnus.com/ecos/license.html Nevertheless, it is an instrumentality of the manifesto. > The GPL talks a lot about how software should be free and its > freedom should be protected, but makes only a passing reference > to patents in its preamble. The GPL actually talks about software liberty, not software freedom. This is a common misconception, and the misuse of the words "free" and "freedom" in the preamble perpetuates, apparently intentionally, this misconception. Probably to avoid the obvious connotations of "liberate", "liberated", "liberal", and "libertine". > It does not talk about intellectual property. It is perfectly > possible to disagree with Stallman's agenda but agree with him > on the suitability of the GPL for free software. You should be aware of clause 9 of the GPL: | 9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new | versions of the General Public License from time to time. Such | new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, | but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. | | Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the | Program specifies a version number of this License which applies | to it and "any later version", you have the option of following | the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later | version published by the Free Software Foundation. If the | Program does not specify a version number of this License, you | may choose any version ever published by the Free Software | Foundation. AFAIK, this clause is in effect for most of the GPL'ed software you reference. You should be aware that there is currently a revision of the GPL in progress, according to reports published on slashdot.org. The claims are that the revised license will be more commercially tenable than the existing GPL, and that it will explicitly address the intellectual proporty issues. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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