>--- Original Message --- >From: James Caska >Date: 2/27/04 7:55:22 AM > >>However, unlike biological viruses, it's YOUR decision if >>you want to catch this virus. > >I think the other point was that at the time of this code >being widely absorbed into the commercial codebase there >was a general misunderstanding of the intention of the >'free software'. At the time of the absorbtion of the code >I don't think the DECISION was as widely understood as it >is now becoming more clear. You only need to consider the >complexity of the debate on this list to forgive early >adoptors of these cleverly written licenses that the impact >of their DECISION to adopt such code has had unexpected and >poorly understood consequences. I mean sure it was written >into the license 'agreement' but so were the words FREE! >Only now these licenses are starting to be tested in court >is the actual DECISION being clarified and retrospectively >it is having distruptive consquences.. Sounds like all the >hallmarks of a trogan horse in addition to that of a >virus.. A very clever strategy indeed. And I'm sure you've also had a lawyer read and consider the consequences of every EULA that pops up on your computer before you click the "Accept" button? The GPL is about 3 pages of very clear text. Most EULAs are 20 or 30 pages of lawyer-speak, which often contain little nuggets that let Bill Gates (hack, spit) own your machine, or forbid you to compare/benchmark a product without the explicit permission of the company (so that they can avoid bad reviews). Are you old enough to remember when the license for the compiler you bought required you to BUY A LICENSE for each and every commerical application you produced with the compiler? Probably not, but I do. And we're seeing this sort of thing begin to pop up again, thanks to EULAs that forbid compiling competing products. If you're going to build a commerical product without considering the licensing details of the software you're using, you're a fool. What we're seeing is companies that thought the "hippie" license didn't mean anything, and so are crying about being held to the terms of the license by the very copyright laws that they cheer when they are in their favor. Bill -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads