Byron Jeff wrote:
>> If someone really wanted to take the moral high ground and try to
>> provide the best possible situation for end users of software, he'd
>> let people use his code any way they want.  This is basically what I
>> try to do with my source except in cases where I fear it will cost
>> me compared to not making it free.
>
> The problem with your high moral ground is that virtually
> instantaneously someone unscrupulous will take your code and embrace,
> extend, and suppress the modification for their own benefit.

There you go again.  If I specifically allow this kind of use, which I do
for the majority of my code, then there is nothing wrong, immoral, illegal,
or unscrupulous about it.  You certainly have the right not to like it, but
it's rather arrogant to call it unscrupulous just because it doesn't fit
into your narrow idea of how things should work.

I might even encourage such a endeavor.  Nobody is any worse off than
before.  If you think the modified software isn't worth the price, then you
don't have to buy it.  If you think you can do better, you are free to do
so.  But this new software exists only because the developer could make a
business case for it.  If he was forced to open the code and this was deemed
to make the project unprofitable, then the new software would never have
been created and nobody would be any better off.  At least this way, those
end users who think the price is worth what they get are better off and
nobody else is worse off.  Just the existance of this new software alone may
spur competitors into providing more value.

Note that this situtation regulates itself to ensure this second person adds
real value.  My original code will still be there.  Anyone else can start at
the same point the second person did.  This is no different than someone
having a idea for a app and starting from scratch.  Either way, they started
from the same point everyone else was at, and invested in some development
with the expectation of eventually getting a return.  This is basic
economics at work providing most of the goods and services available to you.

If this second party didn't do much to my code (or started from scratch, it
doesn't matter) and charges too high a price, someone else will either do
the same and charge less or possibly others will create a similar app for
free.  If the modifications are in fact substantial, then this won't be
easy, and the second party deserves to get some compenstation.


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