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> The GPL does not taint anything. People like to use pejorative terms like that, or "viral", to make the GPL seem like something that spreads on its own. It is
by ThrowawayR2 10y ago
> The GPL does not taint anything. People like to use pejorative terms like that, or "viral", to make the GPL seem like something that spreads on its own. It is a software license like any other, and every developer can make the decision of whether or not they want to use software available under those terms.
You greatly overestimate the skill and interest a lot of developers have in the niceties of source code licensing. I've had to remind colleagues more than once that the code they want to appropriate can't be used in our code base because of license incompatibilities.
- davexunit 10y agoAre engineers in other fields so completely clueless about the copyright, trademark, and patent laws that apply to their work? Big software companies confuse the issue for others by openwashing (many do not know that "open source" is a well defined term), "intellectual property", etc.
- ThrowawayR2 10y ago> Are engineers in other fields so completely clueless about the copyright, trademark, and patent laws that apply to their work? Sorry but I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. In other engineering fields, there's no equivalent to copyleft licenses (at least that I know of) for designs/processes so it's not an issue.