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Re: making a non-GPLed module
On Thu, Nov 29, 2001, Oleg Goldshmidt wrote about "Re: making a non-GPLed module":
> > way) and "fier"-ness (if you release something under GPL you can't
> > find oneday somebody else becoming a millinaire from the fruits your
> > work).
>...
>
> ESR? He did contribute a lot, but the valuation of LNUX was not
> based on fetchmail or "Cathedral"... Or was it?
>...
What else was it based on? His good looks?
He's like so many other celebrities before him: capitalizing on a fashion
or hype to make money for himself. Single-hit pop singers don't get money
because they invented the concepts of Music or Rock-and-Roll: they get
money because they recognized a fashion and were able to produce something,
rather insignificant on its own, that caters to the tastes of the public.
Anyway, imagine that you wrote an important piece of free software (say, the
Linux kernel). You'd might feel like a major "frier" if someone comes along
and sells your creation for huge profits, and the GPL prevents this (because
if these are indeed huge profits, a competitor can come along and sell it more
cheaply). What the GPL doesn't prevent is someone becoming rich from selling
support for your software, selling your product with a relatively-small profit
margin, or selling computers preinstalled with your software. But in my
opinion, these don't make you feel like a "frier", because you know the other
guy did something extra, had some initiative, that you didn't do, and it is
that extra initiative that they are selling.
But if you don't have the all-too-familiar Israeli "frier" mentality, maybe
a BSD-like license is the way to go? I'm not sure any more.
--
Nadav Har'El | Thursday, Nov 29 2001, 14 Kislev 5762
nyh@math.technion.ac.il |-----------------------------------------
Phone: +972-53-245868, ICQ 13349191 |I work for money. If you want loyalty,
http://nadav.harel.org.il |buy yourself a dog.
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