[nycbug-talk] Re: wasabi

[Isaac Levy]

Alex has some good points here, insomuch as he recognizes that some  
code thrives in closed enviornments, and some thrives in open  
enviornments.

On Jan 23, 2006, at 4:41 PM, alex at pilosoft.com wrote:

> On Mon, 23 Jan 2006, Isaac Levy wrote:
>
>> Conversely, keeping things flexible
>>
>> If you think software is a service, using BSD license works just  
>> fine.
>> If you insist software should be a product, BSD license works just  
>> fine.
>>
>> If you want to do business with people who carry both of these ideas
>> respectively, the GPL gets in the way.
> If I think that releasing free software is a good thing, and more free
> software is a good thing, and that people who use my software  
> should be
> forced to release their changes, I use GPL.

Cool- but how free is free in that case?  You really want to force  
users of your free software to give it back to you?

>
> If I want to make money off my software, I release under commercial
> restrictive license.

Sure, a restrictive commercial license is fine- but if you want to  
make money off your software, yet be able to keep it for the long- 
haul?  (i.e. ever had someone force you to buy your own software back?)

Couldn't a BSD license let you freely do both?  And perhaps even,  
wouldn't it be nice if a commercial vendor could freely release  
software that has lost it's market value (knowing of course, that  
it's not violating any license agreements for any code it acquired as  
a closed product)?

(e.g. I'd sure love to have the source for a number of legacy  
commercial apps [namely- PaintWorksPlus for MacIIgs], but who knows  
what kind of copyright trail the source could have which forces it to  
be mothballed...


>> Though to really put my mouth where my heart is, I'm a pretty firm
>> believer that the GPL is a sort of fascist, absolutist freedom for
>> software.  I believe the authors, and the spirit of the GPL, values
>> source code and machine cycles, far more than human life and  
>> liberties.
>> With that, I tend to simply see machines and code as extensions of  
>> human
>> beings, and disagree with the GPL.
> I value time I spent writing code. I want to be compensated for it.

But Alex, don't you primarily run a service business?

> Either
> by being paid by licensee (commercial license), or by forcing other  
> people
> to release their improvements to my software (which hopefully will be
> somewhat useful to me).
>
> I don't see place for a BSD license. I'm not *that* altruistic, I  
> guess.

I don't see the alltruism in BSD licensing, I see respect for  
differences between cultures of creating.

>> (Some folks say that view is a stretch, but kick back with a  
>> printout of
>> the GPL on your next subway ride and then tell me why I'm wrong.)
> This is becoming a flamewar.

Nah, it's all good conversaton to me!

Tell me why I'm wrong?  Or am I?  Alex- as you are here backing the  
GPL, with your comments, are you agreeing with me that the GPL is  
fascist in how it forces absolute freedom?

Rocket-
.ike