[REBOL] Re: Yes, REBOL/Core is still free
From: holger:rebol at: 22-May-2001 13:49
On Tue, May 22, 2001 at 08:36:07PM +0000, Chris wrote:
> Just a point, I don't want to flare up a GPL war on here similar to the one
> on MooBunny at present but this is FUD. There is nothing in the GPL which
> states "you may not contact the author to negotiate special terms", there is
> nothing in the GPL which says "the author may not exempt selected bodies
> from the GPL at his discretion".
True. Unfortunately a lot of open-source projects have many contributors,
making it difficult to even identify a person or group authorized to
negotiate on behalf of the authors. Linux has had that problem, e.g.
In real life a the legal department of a company trying to license
software for inclusion in a commercial product will try to find a
commercial partner to license from, not a group of hobbyists. Anything else
is asking for trouble.
> Slating
> the GPLed code simply because you can't stick it in a commercial app and
> forget about the guys who wrote it (like M$ and their TCP stack) is not what
> I'd expect from a responsible company.
AFAIR Microsoft's TCP stack is based on early BSD code, not covered by GPL.
> Besides, I think this is a long way from the "free" that most people here
> understood - free as in no charge, free with no "except for..". The free
> which was prominent on your website until recently. Most people here aren't
> complaining about the fact that this has changed so much as the fact that
> we weren't even told about the changes!
For individuals there has been no change. For companies we have been
restructing licensing conditions for quite a while... You are right
though, formal announcements on a lot of things have been lacking. The
News
section on our web site was behind by almost a year until recently,
and we are still catching up... Also keep in mind that things are still
changing. Once the complete product line-up has been released (Command,
Core/Pro etc.) everything should get more organized :).
> Ok, you've lost me there. I've never heard of any Amiga commercial software
> marking being "destroyed by the effects of GPL software."
Yes, because the companies affected by these problems silently left the
Amiga and are rarely interviewed. Typically journalists asks users who
are still using the Amiga, and obviously they primarily complain about
lack of leadership from the parent company, because that is all they see.
A valid complaint, but hardly the full truth. Talk to companies who used
to produce postscript software, compilers, networking software etc. when
you get the chance, and listen to their side of the story, and the reasons
why they left the platform.
--
Holger Kruse
[holger--rebol--com]
