Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 09:41:10 GMT From: jak@cetlink.net (John Kelly) To: "Justin T. Gibbs" <gibbs@narnia.plutotech.com> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: commercial software (definitive) Message-ID: <355d5c06.1764517@mail.cetlink.net> In-Reply-To: <199805160454.WAA24796@narnia.plutotech.com> References: <199805160454.WAA24796@narnia.plutotech.com>
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>> I like an "encumbrance" which prohibits others from hiding the source >> code of derivative works. > >The truth of the matter is, the hiding rarely happens. If so, then the GPL works just as well, "encumbrances" and all. > There is no doubt in my mind that we simply would not have >been able to get our product to market as quickly as we did if we did >not go the embedded UNIX route. What made it possible to go this way? >Licensing terms that didn't scare our lawyers off It's sad there are executives who don't know how to take charge of their own lawyers. OTOH, there are plenty of lawyers who can work with the GPL to produce an equivalent result. >The code we are "hiding" you wouldn't want to touch anyway and most of >it is userland code that would not be subject to licensing restrictions >anyway. Then there's little real basis for objection to the GPL. >We could hide things like CAM, but what is the incentive? More support for the GPL. If there is no incentive to hide, why object to license terms which prohibit hiding? >By releasing the code into the community, we get far greater test >coverage than we could internally and increase the pool of developers >that can maintain the code. Sounds like GPL to me. >You don't need to force business to share. OTOH, why do business need to hide? >A solution to what problem? Pluto would have gone with an RTOS if the >licensing terms didn't work out, so in my opinion, you either get what >the corparate users decide to contribute back, or you get nothing at all. True, but that's a result of traditional corporate management and thinking, which is changing. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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