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From: "Rodney W. Grimes" <rgrimes@gndrsh.aac.dev.com>
Message-Id: <199506171959.MAA07310@gndrsh.aac.dev.com>
Subject: Re: GPL code in freebsd?
To: dufault@hda.com (Peter Dufault)
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 1995 12:59:59 -0700 (PDT)
Cc: gena@NetVision.net.il, FreeBSD-hackers@FreeBSD.Org
In-Reply-To: <199506171151.HAA12011@hda.com> from "Peter Dufault" at Jun 17, 95 07:51:28 am
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> 
> Rodney W. Grimes writes:
> > 
> > > 
> > > Sorry for the stupid question:
> > > Linux uses GPL without any problems (or it seems so :-)
> > > why we can't?
> > 
> > Have you ever read the GPL?  Do you understand what it says?  Do you
> > like 5 page licenses with all sorts of legaleize in them that even
> > drives a lawyer nuts?
> > 
> > Sorry, just can't stand bloody restictions like that, even my lawyer
> > shreeks when he reads it!
> > 
> > UCB copyright, nice, sort, understandable, and only 4 conditions!
> 
> I agree with this SO MUCH I'll SHOUT.
> 
> We work with small and medium size companies.  We embed chunks of
> BSD kernel in their products, some of which have no OS at all.
> This means presenting the licencing terms to the management, and
> the management presenting them to the legal department or outside
> lawyer during the project negotiation phase.
> 
> We take intellectual property rights seriously, and usually have
> to negotiate changes in the company boiler plate legal agreements.
> We have enough trouble with that.  I assure you that trying to get
> the GPL understood by those people, and then approved, would be a
> problem for us.
> 
> Before engaging in any discussions of GPL versus BSD everyone should
> sit down and read the GPL, and when in the discussion try to see
> the environment that the other individual is coming from.

I would go a few steps farther in this if you are in the software
end of things and plan on using GPL'ed code for your work of in your
work.  I suggest you print out a copy of the version 2 GPL, take it
to a lawyer, pay him the $100.00 to explain just what it means to you.

Then quickly run home and destroy all the GPL code you are using in
your business :-)

-- 
Rod Grimes                                      rgrimes@gndrsh.aac.dev.com
Accurate Automation Company                   Custom computers for FreeBSD