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Re: GPL or LGPL


Hey, guys! It seems that I started a discussion that has nothing to do
with the list. But I find this funny and I will contribute with my cent:

 I am scientist, as probably most of you. I don't expect to make money 
with a scientist salary. I don't want to drop years of study working for a
company that makes M$ doing web pages, or developing financial software.

 The Linux vendors are doing zillions selling(somehow) free GPLed
software, and I
definitelly don't want to contribute to these companies without getting a
revenue. I'm not sure if I find enough retribution in seing my name
published in some Linux magazine or whatever. If you guys are married, I
am pretty sure that you wives we'll find your point of view very romantic,
but stupid! I spent months working on my project and that's the way she
sees releasing my software under GPL! I started to think that th GPL is
some kind of conspiration to have hundreeds of very intelligent
programmers (as you!) working for free. I don't see fair to work for
free. Even if this is my hobby I'd like to try (I have the right) to get
some proffit of it.

 I know this will play agaist me:
 My wife said: "OK, you are doing a clone of a commercial software, and
your program we'll eventually cost a lot of money to that company. A few
dozens of people make their living working for that company, and earn 
money. If you are going to create a company to compete with them that
could lower software prices and give some benefits to the community,
that's fine. If people spend years studying to get a job, and then they
appear some cowboys like you doing free software, this will become a
snowball, all software will be free. (That's GNU idea) nobody will give
you a dime for doing software if they can get it for free. All off you
will become unemployees, or you'll work for big companies that make big
revenues, for a symbolic salary (RedHat?) (Cygnus?) (Corel?) (Sun?)". It's
maybe kind of extremist, but I think I got her point, and somehow I agree
with her.

 On the other hand, what's the way of doing money with GPLed software?

 I started to see Apple, Netscape, Sun, et al. just... VERY CLEVER! They
will be the only companies at the very end, and we'll be their slaves!

 Shoot!
Regards,
<ADRIAN>

On Sat, 26 Feb 2000, Klaus Schilling wrote:

> Mark Galassi writes:
> 
>  > You can certainly use GSL internally; you just can't make a non-GPLed
>  > product out of it.
>  > 
> Yeah, that's a very common misunderstanding.
> 
>  > You should certainly consider coming out with a GPLed product that
>  > uses it: many companies make good revenue with GPLed products.
>  > 
> See http://www.cygnus.com , http://www.prosa.it , http://www.senga.org,
> http://www.idonex.se , http://www.id-pro.de ,  http://www.cendio.se,
> http://www.cyclic.com
> I forgot the addy of R. Stallman's favourite Example, the Ada Core Team
> of Robby Dewar.
> 
>  > We are not sympathetic to the argument "I really want to use your
>  > library to make a proprietary product..."
>  > 
> Exactly! All software should finally ne free.
> The Lesser GPL (or similar licenses like the one of guile) are
> only to be thought as a temporary solution.
> 
>  > Your examples of institutions that have put out products under a
>  > university-style license (like the X11 license or the new BSD license)
>  > is not all that enlightening: the real lesson to me is that these
>  > products (like Tk and X) have been frequently put into non-free
>  > products.
> 
> Exactly. And particularly dangerous are licenses like those of
> Mozilla, Qt or the non-free but open source Apple stuff, the latter
> because it aims to extend the power of copyright beyond its common
> boundaries.
> 
> Klaus Schilling
> 


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