[Subject Prev][Subject Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Subject Index][Thread Index]

Re: What is Linux ? (Was Re: Formal Member Registration)



Arun,

I happen to feel comfortable with GPL and you don't.... I believe there is a community and movement while you clearly
don't.... the bottomline is that both of us are pretty fixed in what we believe, and are unlikely to change each
other's opinion...

However, saying that too much of community focus breeds s/w bigotry is a little over the top in IMHO. My personal
beliefs apart, as a member of a consulting group with its core strength in Open Source products, my team-mates and I
often select non-Linux/non-GPLed, even proprietory license based  products/solutions when they are needed to serve a
particular client requirement better than Linux or GPLed s/w could. We don't feel that we are betraying the movement,
rather that we are selecting whatever fits best in the said situation... you know... one man's meat can be another
man's poison ;-) 

GPL is about all equal opportunity, in some ways it creates a truly "level-playing-field" (perhaps another oft-repeated
"theme" that you may find objectable :^) for all concerned, where the best get to score the goals and be recognised as
such for their merit/talent... 

On one hand, we say that we are living in a knowledge-based society, on the other we try to lock away the same
knowledge under the guise of protecting Intellectual Property rights and ludicrous patents (remember what Amazon.com
tried to pull off?).

No one in the so-called "civilised world" deny a man's basic right to breathe the air or earn an honest living to
support himself/family. Without even a guarantee to a Minimum access to information technology we might be endangering
that right of every man in what is shaping up as a knowledge-based society. Without things like GPL, acting as
safe-guards we are likely to be left at the small mercies of the proprietory heavy-weights where fiascos like the
M$-Kerberos are prime examples.

I am not saying that everything should be free or be forced to made free (by the US DoJ perhaps?? ;^)... however, GPL
provides us with an option that protects our freedom to hack, our freedom to chose what we can do with a given piece of
s/w... it is __only__ realistic that if we are to ask for this freedom, we have to ensure that this right is protected
for others... GPL is not a liability or excess baggage that is dragging us down, GPL is our collective global
responsibility. 

regards,
--Indra.