From owner-freebsd-hackers Thu May 13 8: 1:31 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from smtp1.vnet.net (smtp1.vnet.net [166.82.1.31]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9C40F14DD0 for ; Thu, 13 May 1999 08:01:25 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from rivers@dignus.com) Received: from dignus.com (ponds.vnet.net [166.82.177.48]) by smtp1.vnet.net (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA04116; Thu, 13 May 1999 11:01:45 -0400 (EDT) Received: from lakes.dignus.com (lakes.dignus.com [10.0.0.3]) by dignus.com (8.9.2/8.8.5) with ESMTP id LAA03550; Thu, 13 May 1999 11:00:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from rivers@localhost) by lakes.dignus.com (8.9.2/8.6.9) id LAA42450; Thu, 13 May 1999 11:00:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 11:00:50 -0400 (EDT) From: Thomas David Rivers Message-Id: <199905131500.LAA42450@lakes.dignus.com> To: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, ragnar@sysabend.org Subject: Re: BSD, GPL, the world today. In-Reply-To: Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Actually - this comes down to the argument of what the market will bear, contract law, and the legal ramifications of bugs/problems. You "bought" the software, and agreed to the license terms when you opened the box, didn't you - Caveat Emptor. As long as you keep buying it, people/companies will keep making it. And, being a software manafacturer myself (see http://www.dignus.com) - the thought of having legal responsibility for a potential problem in my software (which you've mentioned, despite anyone's best efforts, will have bugs) is very scary. I would want to pass that responsibility to the developers who wrote it, just as a bridge engineer is responsible for the bridge he designs. Then, the developers would, presumably, have to become licensed and have professional development/malpractice insurance... which ultimately drives up the price of the software. So, as everyone else, we disclaim everything up-front in our license agreement and sell our software at reasonable prices. But -hackers isn't likely the place for this... - Dave Rivers - To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message