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I didn't down-vote you but I don't think you "get it". Linus quotes Greg and explains why approaching it with lawyers does not have the desired outcome and offe

I didn't down-vote you but I don't think you "get it". Linus quotes Greg and explains why approaching it with lawyers does not have the desired outcome and offers example(s) of how effective the "behind the scenes"/"honey instead of vinegar" approach has been. "Goodwill means nothing when the law is being broken. It means nothing when licenses are not being enforced." This hasn't proven to be true with Linux/GPL. Look at the real world examples given in the article. Legal action is a tool but it is not the appropriate tool to convince another party to join you in a shared endeavor. You can "win" an argument with your wife by striking her but you have to ask yourself, is that the best way to reach your goal?

ivraatiems 10y ago
You're right - legal action is not always the best tool. And companies resort to it far more often than they ought to. But legal action != lawyers. Lawyers get involved all the time to make sure legal action doesn't happen. In fact, for civil lawyers, that's most of what they do. It's the frothing-at-the-mouth, "we must NEVER do this," all-lawyers-are-evil attitude that gets me here. If Linus had just said "I don't want to over-rely on legal action to get things done, I want to make sure we are not hurting our community relationships," that'd be one thing. But the way he comes at it - like he does with so many other things - is so inflammatory and my-way-or-the-highway that I felt a strong response was required.