Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 06:30:12 -0700 From: Tani Hosokawa <unknown@riverstyx.net> To: j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: GPL v. BSD and fragmentation Message-ID: <20000822063012.F10643@riverstyx.net> In-Reply-To: <20000822141843.C27208@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>; from jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org on Tue, Aug 22, 2000 at 02:18:43PM %2B0100 References: <20000822141843.C27208@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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On Tue, Aug 22, 2000 at 02:18:43PM +0100, j mckitrick wrote: > On Mon, Aug 21, 2000 at 02:01:56PM -0700, Tani Hosokawa wrote: > | On Mon, Aug 21, 2000 at 09:51:52PM +0100, j mckitrick wrote: > | > > | > i just realized that if someone works on a project and then signs it to the > | > GPL, then not only have they given up the right to their code, but also the > | > right to make a living by selling enhancements. also, (and this is the > | > scary part) they destroy the motivation for anyone else to ever begin a > | > competing product. wow. > | > | Well, that's not entirely true. You can still make a living > | customizing the program, and you can bill for the time spent to make > | those modifications. You just have to release those changes to the > | public after you're done writing them. > > but being the author is no longer an advantage. also, you will never be > able to sell the improvements for the price of the original product. > and someone can come along and undercut your bid to add improvements. Congratulations. Now you understand the GPL philosophy -- intellectual property in the form of software has no intrinsic value beyond the time it took to create it. Either believe that and use the GPL, or don't, and use some other license. You do, however, have the right to continue to modify the original work that came along before the GPL and sell that as a commercial product. You just can't sell derivatives of the GPL's copy. You retain copyright to the unmodified work, and the GPL can't do anything about that. -- tani hosokawa river styx internet To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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