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This will probably get downvoted, but this kind of thing is why companies avoid the GPL. There will be people inside the company saying they would not be havin

This will probably get downvoted, but this kind of thing is why companies avoid the GPL. There will be people inside the company saying they would not be having these issues if they'd have used a BSD based OS (like Sony, Apple, etc) or a completely closed source OS.

jvreeland 7y ago
They wouldn't have those issues... if they released the source. Like they agreed they would.
esotericn 7y ago
This is the same kind of reasoning that has companies pulling the 'Not Available for Legal Reasons' nonsense and self-censoring their websites in the EU. They wouldn't be having these issues if they just did the right thing to begin with for all of their users.
LeoPanthera 7y ago
Are you really sympathizing with companies on this one? It's not like how the GPL works is a mystery. If you use the code, you release the source. It's not fucking rocket science. And even if it was, Elon's companies have some experience with rocket science.
- odshoifsdhfs 7y ago
  I really think you win the internet for the day with that last phrase :)
danShumway 7y ago
Then fine, don't use Linux. What is the point of the GPL if companies aren't going to respect it? Personally, I was about to comment that this letter seems way too charitable. If Tesla was using a closed source OS like Windows, and wasn't following the terms of that license agreement, do you think Microsoft would write a letter to Tesla owners politely asking them to get involved in the conversation, or do you think Microsoft would bust out some lawyers and tell Tesla in no uncertain terms exactly what was going to happen if they didn't immediately get their act together? If anything, an article like this makes me more likely to use GPL code, because apparently I can deliberately violate the legal terms for years and get off by just ignoring a few cordially written letters. I guess it was foolish for me to be so worried about its viral nature, since that part appears to be optional.
pjmlp 7y ago
While kind of true, the anti-GPL movement seems to forget that without it, we would probably still have all those commercial UNIXes to choose from. While some of us might not care that much, others might come to miss the days when GPL was actually relevant.

jvreeland 7y ago

They wouldn't have those issues... if they released the source. Like they agreed they would.

esotericn 7y ago

This is the same kind of reasoning that has companies pulling the 'Not Available for Legal Reasons' nonsense and self-censoring their websites in the EU. They wouldn't be having these issues if they just did the right thing to begin with for all of their users.

LeoPanthera 7y ago

Are you really sympathizing with companies on this one? It's not like how the GPL works is a mystery. If you use the code, you release the source. It's not fucking rocket science. And even if it was, Elon's companies have some experience with rocket science.

odshoifsdhfs 7y ago
I really think you win the internet for the day with that last phrase :)

danShumway 7y ago

Then fine, don't use Linux. What is the point of the GPL if companies aren't going to respect it? Personally, I was about to comment that this letter seems way too charitable. If Tesla was using a closed source OS like Windows, and wasn't following the terms of that license agreement, do you think Microsoft would write a letter to Tesla owners politely asking them to get involved in the conversation, or do you think Microsoft would bust out some lawyers and tell Tesla in no uncertain terms exactly what was going to happen if they didn't immediately get their act together? If anything, an article like this makes me more likely to use GPL code, because apparently I can deliberately violate the legal terms for years and get off by just ignoring a few cordially written letters. I guess it was foolish for me to be so worried about its viral nature, since that part appears to be optional.

pjmlp 7y ago

While kind of true, the anti-GPL movement seems to forget that without it, we would probably still have all those commercial UNIXes to choose from. While some of us might not care that much, others might come to miss the days when GPL was actually relevant.