Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 15:04:51 -0600 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: j mckitrick <jcm@freebsd-uk.eu.org> Cc: Tani Hosokawa <unknown@riverstyx.net>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: GPL v. BSD and fragmentation Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20000823150046.04750f00@localhost> In-Reply-To: <20000823204149.A43608@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> References: <4.3.2.7.2.20000823132044.057d1ba0@localhost> <20000822141843.C27208@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20000822141843.C27208@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20000822063012.F10643@riverstyx.net> <4.3.2.7.2.20000823132044.057d1ba0@localhost>
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At 01:41 PM 8/23/2000, j mckitrick wrote: >here is what i don't get about the GPL. if a mechanical engineer works for >1 year on a project, he might only be able to sell it for 5,000 US dollars. >but he will have to sell far more than 1 unit to recover his costs, let >alone make a profit. That's right. Fortunately, his design is valuable intellectual property, and so he can make ends meet by selling enough of what he's designed to make a profit. > once a programmer writes or enhances a GPL program, he >or she might sell only one copy At the cost of the copy, not at the cost of doing the work. Even if he or she is working as a consultant, all the programmer will get (and this is the best case!) is an hourly wage for the time spent on the code. > before it becomes open source, and therefore >free. maybe the industry will wise up and realize you get what you pay for, >and commercial software has far better support in general. Sometimes it does; sometimes it does not. The point is that there should be a choice. The stated goal of the GPL is to eliminate choice. --Brett To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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