4 ms·
Copyright is the foundation of all FLOSS licenses, from GPL to MIT. You might know that already, but that's a sharp double-edged sword you're swinging.
by davidp 9y ago
Copyright is the foundation of all FLOSS licenses, from GPL to MIT. You might know that already, but that's a sharp double-edged sword you're swinging.
- dragonwriter 9y agoWithout copyright, you don't need a license for content to be Free. There may be another edge to the sword, but it ain't the one you are pointing at.
- davidp 9y agoWith the GPL at least, its major clauses are aimed at restricting software from being incorporated into closed systems. I don't know if eliminating that control was what the GP had in mind, but it would be one of the perhaps-unexpected effects. See also: Licenses that prohibit use for military purposes or other things the authors consider undesirable.
- userbinator 9y agoWithout copyright there wouldn't really be "closed systems" any more --- sure, you might not have the original source, but it also becomes legal to decompile and publish the results --- and as the cracker/hacker/security community has shown, source isn't mandatory for doing interesting things with software. If anything, the loss of copyright would cause a great advance in reverse-engineering technology --- and also attempts at defending from it. IMHO not such a bad thing after all.
- hmm_really 9y agoThats simply wrong, educate yourself young man!
- dredmorbius 9y agoFlipside: copyright is a human construct. So is the GPL and concept of copyleft. It is possible to eliminate one thing (say, overbearing copyright) and protect another. Rather than creating a class of works under license which cannot be constrained, it might be possible to create a set of works under law which may be designated with equivalent protections. Or find other means to the same ends as the GPL: protecting the three freedoms laid out by RMS.
- izacus 9y agoDid GPL or MIT ever actually go to court to enforce the license?
- floatboth 9y agoYes, for example, VMware got sued in Germany a couple years ago: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/ https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/ But most proprietary vendors these days do comply with the GPL.