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Re: Which Linux to use?
ok, here goes. there's not much high funda, but there's
some interesting history.
GPL (Gnu Public License)
- it's specifically designed to prohibit control of the source code.
you have the source code available and are free to make modifications
but any modifications you make must also be under GPL. i.e its
source code must also be made freely available.
this was started by Richard Stallman, without anybody's help so he
was able to write as free a license as possible. he wrote emacs, gcc
and a number of other utilities. when Linus came along he adopted
the GPL for his version of unix (linux !), 'cos he was blissfully
unaware of the free source code OS called BSD and its associated
BSD license. Linus has mentioned that if he knew of BSD, he would
not have written linux at all. with Linus adopting GNU
Stallman's dream of having an entire platform from OS to development
tools, that were based on GNU was fulfilled.
In fact the reason GNU was called GNU (GNU is Not Unix) was a
rebellion against the source code control that plagued Unix of the
time - see below.
BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) license
- it allows you to read and tweak the source code, but also allows
you to use the source code in your own products and sell them
without revealing your own modifications.
this had a long history and was affected by a tussle between
ATT Labs (where unix was created) and UC Berkeley (where unix
was greatly enhanced - sockets,tcp/ip etc) on the Unix OS.
Also involved were all the companies that got BSD Unix from UCB
and had to pay royalties for it to ATT, because UCB had modified
code that belonged to ATT. While ATT had the unix license,
companies would have to pay for BSD code, which they could
then read and modify and then incorporate into their own products.
FreeBSD finally rewrote the entire source code, removing it from
the clutches of ATT's licensing terms, so you did not have to pay
to get the source in the first place. But you could still modify
it and sell it in your own products, without revealing your changes.
LPGl (Lesser GPL)
- something Stallman came up with to allow limited use of GPL
software in commercial products. software libraries could
be distributed in LGPL (came with source code), but you could
use the libraries in a product of your own, without revealing
its secrets. any code change to the library source itself would
have to be revealed.
Basically there are two versions of freedom.
Stallman's version makes sure the source code remains open to all
and the evolution takes place before everyone's eyes. But it
forces the user to make his own innovative changes to be
freely available also. It is more free for the subsequent
user of the software than the BSD license. GNU is the reason
why the best of ideas have been able to contribute to linux
unencumbered.
The BSD version claims to be more free than GNU, because it allows
the user to wrap his changes into a product and not reveal the
changes. Most companies prefer this kind of licenses from open source
software, for obvious reasons. It is more free for the immediate
user of the software than the GNU license.
One argument in its favour is that if the work has been funded
by someone (say a university), it should be licensed under BSD
and not GNU, to allow its investors to use it to make money and
recover their costs.
other licenses -
NPL, MPL (Netscape Public License, Mozilla Public License), Mach license
Mach is very much like BSD. NPL allows you to tweak and report
changes to Netscape, which it will use internally without paying you
anything back. MPL is similar.
finally, don't subsitute what i've said here for actually reading
the license terms when it comes to deciding.
- Ruchir
From: "cecwcbng" <bngcecwc@xxxxxxxxxx>
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Subject: Re: [LIG] Re: [linux-delhi] Which Linux to use?
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 16:44:11 +0530
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Indraneel Majumdar" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <linux-india-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 11:05 AM
Subject: Re: [LIG] Re: [linux-delhi] Which Linux to use?
> Not many attorneys or lawyers on the list, I'm afraid, we all have to do
I doubt in Linux user group any other professionals other than hard
core
computer geeks can make out anything.
Nathan
> our own thing, and then quarrel with our own points of view of the GPL
and
> BSD. Welcome to the band ;-)
>
> \Indraneel
>
> On Wed, 7 Mar 2001, Mukund wrote:
>
> > A 2-3 line explanation in plain text would be great, as many lister
> > including me do not understand the high funda of these licenses.
>
> --
> http://www.indialine.org
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> The mailing list archives are available at
> http://lists.linux-india.org/cgi-bin/wilma/linux-india-general
>
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