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Interesting. On the page about the book[1], Zed also links to How To Think Like a Computer Scientist, another popular book for learning Python. Allen Downey wa
by mdonahoe 16y ago
Interesting. On the page about the book[1], Zed also links to How To Think Like a Computer Scientist, another popular book for learning Python.
Allen Downey was the first author on that book, but initially he wrote it in Java:
"I released the book under the GNU Free Documentation License, which allows users to copy, modify, and distribute the book.
What happened next is the cool part. Jeff Elkner, a high school teacher in Virginia, adopted my book and translated it into Python. He sent me a copy of his translation, and I had the unusual experience of learning Python by reading my own book."[2]
It's funny that the same thing is happening here, but Zed has a very different reaction than Allen's.
[1]: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index
[2]: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/html/book001.html http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/html/book001.html
- JshWright 16y agoIt would only be "the same thing" if Zed chose to release his content under the GNU Free Documentation License, which he did not. It's his content, and he can do with it what he choses. If he doesn't want folks to "copy, modify, and distribute" his content, that's fine with me (not that it matters, since it's _his_ content).
- jpcx01 16y agoReally? You see no similarities between these 2 cases? I only see one big difference. One author cares about only himself and his own little world
- JshWright 16y agoI'm not even sure this is worth replying to, but what the heck... Zed has absolutely no moral obligation to write stuff for free and release it for anyone to do whatever they want with. Do you express the same moral outrage over every book in the library with a copyright notice printed on it? I surely hope that every piece of code and content that you ever create is released under a license that allows anyone to do what they please with it, otherwise... you don't have a moral leg to stand on.
- jpcx01 16y agoThank you for the lesson in morality.
- nowarninglabel 16y agoA different reaction for a different license. Notice that 37 days ago a fellow hacker realized that the license didn't allow for porting into Ruby though they wanted to do so: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1739890 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1739890