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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!mips!mips!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!isi.edu!allard From: allard@isi.edu (Dennis Allard) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: Restrictions on 'free' UNIX / 386BSD (Re: selling 386BSD) Message-ID: <22221@venera.isi.edu> Date: 17 Aug 92 22:05:34 GMT References: <MNDIKJ3@taronga.com> <PHR.92Aug15151100@soda.berkeley.edu> <63DILTJ@taronga.com> <PHR.92Aug15214245@soda.berkeley.edu> Sender: news@isi.edu Reply-To: allard@isi.edu (Dennis Allard) Distribution: world Organization: USC Information Sciences Institute Lines: 30 peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes: > It's the absence of copyleft that leads to the possibility of more > than a bunch of random hackers benefiting from it. > > phr@soda.berkeley.edu (Paul Rubin) writes: > >Please clarify this. How is anyone else prevented from benefitting > >from it? Say, for example, the same people who now benefit from GCC? > > The people who aren't hackers and don't have net access, who want to walk > down to the store and buy a shrinkwrapped copy of ... As you know, there is nothing in copyleft which prevents anyone from selling a copylefted item. The requirement is that, even if they sell it, they are not allowed to prevent it being copied and redistributed at the will of any owner, and they must include the copyleft notice with the item so that that any new owner be suject to the copyleft. So, you might argue, that prevents shrink wrapping since noone would buy it. I wonder about that. The advantages to shrink wrapping, viz., on the shelf availability, quality bound documentation, tech. support for registered owners, update mailing list membership, etc. are often worth the price of shrinkwrap, even if a free copy (or stolen copy, in the case of noncopyleft material) is avaiable at no charge. True, we don't see examples of shrinkwrapped copylefted stuff at the software houses. Maybe a publisher should give it a try! Dennis Allard allard@isi.edu