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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!news.cyberstore.ca!van-bc!unixg.ubc.ca!news.bc.net!felix.junction.net!okjunc.junction.net!michael From: michael@okjunc.junction.net (Michael Dillon) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: GPL (was Re: Linux vs FreeBSD) Date: 25 Dec 1995 09:54:33 GMT Organization: Okanagan Internet Junction, Vernon B.C., Canada Lines: 63 Message-ID: <4blscp$17t@felix.junction.net> References: <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> <4bbs2d$bet@snowdon.elsevier.co.uk> <DJzAnw.87x@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca> <4bfq0g$k8@dyson.iquest.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: okjunc.junction.net Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.advocacy:32042 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:11446 In article <4bfq0g$k8@dyson.iquest.net>, John S. Dyson <root@dyson.iquest.net> wrote: >In article <DJzAnw.87x@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>, >Viet-Trung Luu <vluu@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca> wrote: >> >>Well, I'm not... as far as I can see, it should be up to the programmer >>(which license to choose). >> >Excellent -- this is one of the best comments that I have seen so far >in this discussion. Specifically, it then becomes important that the >programmer understand the ramifications of the license terms. This is >what I see this discussion is about. One of the nice things about the GPL vs. BSD licence terms is that it basically divides the Free UNIX group into two camps. Significant parts of the code used cannot simply be adopted by the other camp but must be re-implemented. In some cases this is because the BSD camp finds the GPL used by Linux does not permit the code to be freely incorporated. In other cases because the Linux camp WANTS to have the GPL on some code but BSD licenced code cannot be put under the GPL. This is a *GOOD* thing IMHO. It encourages diversity and encourages fresh looks at the implementation of things. Some people can only see the aggravation that it causes, but IMHO, these are the same people who would find nothing good about 5 months of winter, -20C temperatures and blizards that cause roads to be closed and whole cities to shut down for a day or so. But some of us thrive on winter and I believe that this aggravating diversity is part of what is causing the Free UNIX development environment to thrive. In the long run, this will be good for UNIX and will help UNIX to overcome proprietary OSes like NT. Of course, the UNIX of 2010 will be as different from today's FreeBSD/Linux CD-ROM distribution as they are different from the 6th edition UNIX I used on a PDP 11/44 at the University of Waterloo Arts Computing Facility in 1979. Back then, computing in the arts consisted of ed, and a modified nroff to generate punched paper tapes for a used Photon typesetter that was bought cheap from the Toronto Daily Star. People who flame Linux, FreeBSD, GPL or BSD licences really have no sense of their place in history (past and future). And it's not just the OS'es but there is so much of the Internet technology, from news servers and email servers to underlying TCP/IP stacks and WWW servers that is part of this whole wave of free software development. This is what has created the global Internet. This is what has created the *FIRST* truly effective global communications system in the history of mankind. The telephone system doesn't count. You can get more communications in and out of 3rd world countries via UUCP/Fido links (gatewayed to the Internet) than you can with voice or fax telephones. Still, I see a lot less flaming between Linux and FreeBSD than I do between Windows (NT,3.1,fWG) and OS/2. So it's not all that bad. But lets try to make it even better and keep the Linux/FreeBSD competition a friendly one. That way it will make all of us stronger and help all of us compete more effectively in the world out there where there be *REAL* demons to contend with. -- Michael Dillon Voice: +1-604-546-8022 Memra Software Inc. Fax: +1-604-542-4130 http://www.memra.com E-mail: michael@memra.com