Re: Signatories to the Declaration of Software Freedom

[Arun Sharma <arun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Mar 02, 2001 at 10:56:36AM +0530, Raju Mathur wrote:
[...]

> Perhaps.  It's also possible that the success of the GPL is due not
> only to the software which runs under GPL but inherent strengths in
> the GPL itself.  Would you consider that argument for even a moment,
> or will you just ignore it or paraphrase and trash it like you do with
> all other arguments for the GPL?

I think, it's a little bit of both. GPL's strength is in the sheer
quantity of free software using that license and the visibility it
gets through the software, using prominently displayed pointers to
the manifesto (gdb, emacs for eg - free software from other sources
don't have these pop-up ads). 

I'd agree with you that GPL has some inherent strength in the sense
that more software gets contributed and the GNU rhetoric gets the
juices of a lot more young programmers flowing than other boring
licenses. The end result is good software (sometimes not the best,
because political goals cloud technical judgement), not always
usable and most often, not ready for the mass consumption.

Do I feel threatened ? Not yet (pre GPL v3.0), the company I work 
for doesn't sell software, but believes in selling proprietary software
as a service.

Why do I rant on the lists ? If GPL guys just wrote code and didn't
spread as much propaganda as I see on popular news channels, I
wouldn't bother. 

	-Arun