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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!howland.erols.net!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!arclight.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.direct.ca!nntp.portal.ca!cynic.portal.ca!not-for-mail 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: 6 Feb 1997 12:01:18 -0800 Organization: Internet Portal Services, Inc. Lines: 45 Message-ID: <5dddae$mml@cynic.portal.ca> References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <32EE0B70.1657@ml.com> <5claa2$jq1@cynic.portal.ca> <5dask0$13q0@usenet1y.prodigy.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: cynic.portal.ca Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.misc:156331 comp.os.linux.networking:67370 comp.os.linux.setup:95617 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:5879 comp.unix.bsd.misc:2272 comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy:51967 comp.os.os2.advocacy:265860 In article <5dask0$13q0@usenet1y.prodigy.net>, bill davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com> wrote: >In article <5claa2$jq1@cynic.portal.ca>, >Curt Sampson <cjs@cynic.portal.ca> wrote: > >| As a matter of fact, that has been done. In NetBSD we now have a >| non-GPL'd zlib, and we're writing front ends for it so we can get >| rid of gzip and gunzip and the like. > >That really sounds dumb. GPL doesn't say you have to give away the >operating system if you include gzip, why would you write another >program to do the same thing? We split out the GPL'd source code into a separate tree, to make it easy for those using our code for commerical purposes to figure out what they have to make available for several years, and to minimise it to minimise the cost of making that source code available. The smaller we can make this, the easier life is. As well, this means that if someone does need to distribute a Gnu-free system, they now can include our gzip where they couldn't include Gnu's gzip before. (This could well be a practial necessity for some commercial users.) >I personally think it means a few people have taken dislike for RMS >to a new high. Well, you think wrong then. I certainly hold no antipathy toward RMS; I think he's made a great contribution to the software community (gcc and tools). I expect that many others who do not like the GPL very much or want to put their work under the GPL feel the same. Also, just because I far prefer BSD licencing over the GPL does not mean that I think the GPL is a tool of pure evil or anything like that. I find it annoying, I keep my free software free of such encumberances, and I will work to free other software from it, but I'm not disputing anyone's right to put their software under the GPL, any more than I'm disputing anyone's right to make their software into a commercial product. cjs -- Curt Sampson cjs@portal.ca Info at http://www.portal.ca/ Internet Portal Services, Inc. Through infinite myst, software reverberates Vancouver, BC (604) 257-9400 In code possess'd of invisible folly.