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GPL something (Announce)

posted by mbbrutman Homepage, Washington, USA, 30.05.2011, 18:05

> > I think I know the boundaries of the licenses quite well.
>
> It didn't sound like that when I read it. Sorry for misunderstanding what
> you wrote.
>
> > (Not liking my license choice does
> > not give you the right to infer that I don't understand the license.)
>
> Independent of my preferences I have the right to infer whatever I want to
> infer.
>
> Whether what I infer is true or at least plausible is an entirely different
> matter.
>
> Whether it appears polite or rude similarly is an entirely different
> matter.
In civilized society we try not to insult people unnecessarily. I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, and not inferring negative things unnecessarily.

> > > > > For libraries, it is more ensuring that it will be unused :-)
> > > >
> > > > Instead of making funny little comments, please provide an example
> where
> > > > GPL3 will be an obstacle to this code being used.
>
> Considering this:
>
> > > Linking the code with the application makes the GPL apply to all code
> > > linked together therein.
> >
> > Good - that was intentional.
>
> it should have been obvious to you that the GPL will be an obstacle in two
> cases:
>
> (a) if some source code's license is incompatible to the GPL, or
> (b) if someone doesn't want to tie their source code to the GPL even if
> possible.
>
> Assuming you thought of both of these when considering the license, I don't
> understand why you asked for examples where it will be an obstacle.
>
> > Ok, so the obstacle is that if you use my code you have to ship it under
> > GPL3. I don't see that as an obstacle.
>
> "So the X is that Y. I don't see that as an X."
>
> Well.
>
> I see it as an X.
>
> More usefully: the obstacle isn't that "if I use your code I have to ship
> your code under GPL3" (which I personally would often be fine with), it's
> that "if I use your code I have to ship both your and my code under GPL3".
> Your statement is ambiguous here but I'll assume you knew what you meant
> with "it" there.
Once again, I don't consider those conditions to be an obstacle. I gave away this code with this license. I am not inhibiting anybody from writing their own code. But as a condition of using this code you have to use my same license. I think that is more than fair. GPL2 is viral in many of the same ways. I've also left a provision that people who have a project in conflict with current license can contact me to discuss other licenses, so there is a safety valve that can be used.

If somebody really can't abide by this license then they are free to distribute their code (source or binaries) with a description or script that compiles mTCP and links it to their code. As long as they don't distribute the resulting binary they are in compliance with any version of the GPL. Remember, it is in the distribution of code where the GPL gets cumbersome to some people. This loophole is fairly large and should satisfy anybody - large corporations like IBM routinely use it.


> > If you use mTCP I want you to use GPL3. I don't want people modifying
> the
> > work and distributing it without making the modifications public and
> under
> > the same license that I chose. I don't see that as a bad thing.
>
> Again, "it" is ambiguous. And again if "it" meant just your code I could
> see myself agreeing with your views a lot more.
See above - you have remedies if you write some code and need a remedy.

>
>
>
> However, let's not forget that even a GPL release allows us to read the
> source code, and use it in some ways. And assuming the binary-only
> distribution without all the GPL appendage will still be provided on your
> website, you obviously didn't take away any freedoms with this release. So
> all in all while I do not agree with your license preference and could
> probably talk about that forever: It is still accommodating of you to make
> the source code available and I'm grateful for that. (Presumably. Haven't
> actually used the source code for anything yet.)
I think that being able to see the code, modify it for personal use, and use it in the context of other GPL3 code as a very good thing.

You are reacting to the choice of license as though I have restricted you from doing something reasonable. In the absence of any code that you actually want to use mTCP with, I'd refrain from worrying about it. Let us cross that bridge when we come upon it.

---
mTCP - TCP/IP apps for vintage DOS machines!
http://www.brutman.com/mTCP

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