GPL good or bad ? (Was Re: [LI] Programming help [Humorous])

[Raj Mathur <raju@xxxxxxx>]

>>>>> "Arun" == Arun Sharma <adsharma@xxxxxxxx> writes:

    Arun> [snip]

    Arun> My primary intention is that everyone on the list who's
    Arun> writing code is aware of all the issues surrounding GPL,
    Arun> instead of choosing it because Linus Torvalds or Richard
    Arun> Stallman chose the same license. And I make no attempts to
    Arun> hide my personal preferences :)

I agree.  I also feel that before we start educating list members on
the implications of using portions of copylefted software, we should
educate them on what the copyleft itself is, and how it affects them
as users (as opposed to developers).  (Sorry, if that last statement
comes out a bit condescending, it wasn't meant to).  I'll write about
it if no one else picks up the task.

    Arun> To some extent, the debate deals with the same core issues
    Arun> as Capitalism Vs Communism and Open source Vs free software,
    Arun> MBA Vs PhD etc.

Not really, IMNSHO :-) To take an example, capitalism and communism
are different ways of handling tangible wealth, the type which does
not increase by sharing.  The FSF and the GNU Project are pretty clear
that they do not require you to share your tangible wealth, or forbid
you from increasing it.  Software, OTOH, is an intangible and does
actually grow by sharing.  If you consider a program to have value,
then by sharing that program you are actually increasing the value
proposition of that software (sorry, I break into CorpSpeak at times
of stress ;-), which is what the FSF is all about -- increasing the
amount of wealth in the world.

Regards,

-- Raju
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Linux India Mailing List Archives are now available.  Please search
the archive at http://lists.linux-india.org/ before posting your question
to avoid repetition and save bandwidth.