*BSD News Article 87756


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From: cjs@cynic.portal.ca (Curt Sampson)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux vs whatever
Date: 29 Jan 1997 07:37:57 -0800
Organization: Internet Portal Services, Inc.
Lines: 21
Message-ID: <5cnqsl$78o@cynic.portal.ca>
References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <32EE0B70.1657@ml.com> <5claa2$jq1@cynic.portal.ca> <32f342b7.11963784@uns.bris.ac.uk>
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In article <32f342b7.11963784@uns.bris.ac.uk>,
Alex Butcher <Alex.Butcher.DELETE.THIS@bris.ac.uk> wrote:

>Er... WinZip /DOES/ do gzip format files. I can even browse .tgz files
>here.

It does now, but it doesn't do it with the original, GPL'd code,
does it? All this means is that either the original author spent
time rewriting code that was already written, rather than spending
that time on other features, or someone else out there re-wrote
the GPL'd code, rather than contributing new free software to the
world. (In fact, the latter is the case with NetBSD; we're right
now wasting time writing a front end for the free zlib so that we
can have a free gzip instead of an encumbered one. This is time
that would otherwise be spent writing other free software.)

cjs
-- 
Curt Sampson    cjs@portal.ca		Info at http://www.portal.ca/
Internet Portal Services, Inc.	
Vancouver, BC   (604) 257-9400		De gustibus, aut bene aut nihil.