4 ms·

The ironical part about that entire page is that BSD-style licenses are the most free of all.

by delano 16y ago

rbanffy 16y ago
BSD licenses defend only the freedoms of the developers. GNU-style licenses defend the freedom of the users by taking away some freedoms from developers. If you really believe there can be a license that's "most free of all", that would be public domain (like SQLite).
- delano 16y ago
  Does that decrease net freedom? Edit: you added the comment about SQLite after I replied. The problem with public domain is that it's messy. It has a specific legal definition which is not the same across jurisdictions (and in some places it's not recognized at all). It's cleaner and more succinct to say, "use this for whatever you want, including commercial purposes, but don't blame me for any problems".
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    Sorry for the edit - I am a strong believer in the "release early and often" mantra. I believe that BSD may, in fact, decrease net freedom. With GPL-like licenses, you always increase the amount of software that's released as free, because no such software can be closed up. With BSD-ish there is always the chance of one entity grabbing the software and running with it. If you consider a win having the largest corpus of software released under a free license, then GPL is a superior solution, because it restricts no freedom but the one to close the software.
    - delano 16y ago
      Perhaps that's true. The opportunity to generate a profit is a significant motivator for a lot of people though. That's not true for everyone and those people will write and release regardless. But for those that it is true, they will spend time on something they wouldn't otherwise and likely be more productive doing it. I don't mind people using the software I write to generate a private profit. I think there's a greater net benefit in allowing more opportunities for people to make a living.
    - irickt 16y ago
      This assumes that developers will have an equal preference for improving BSD and GPL projects. Is anyone aware of a representative opinion poll?
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

The ironical part about that entire page is that BSD-style licenses are the most free of all.

by delano 16y ago

The ironical part about that entire page is that BSD-style licenses are the most free of all.

BSD licenses defend only the freedoms of the developers. GNU-style licenses defend the freedom of the users by taking away some freedoms from developers. If you really believe there can be a license that's "most free of all", that would be public domain (like SQLite).

delano 16y ago
Does that decrease net freedom? Edit: you added the comment about SQLite after I replied. The problem with public domain is that it's messy. It has a specific legal definition which is not the same across jurisdictions (and in some places it's not recognized at all). It's cleaner and more succinct to say, "use this for whatever you want, including commercial purposes, but don't blame me for any problems".
- rbanffy 16y ago
  Sorry for the edit - I am a strong believer in the "release early and often" mantra. I believe that BSD may, in fact, decrease net freedom. With GPL-like licenses, you always increase the amount of software that's released as free, because no such software can be closed up. With BSD-ish there is always the chance of one entity grabbing the software and running with it. If you consider a win having the largest corpus of software released under a free license, then GPL is a superior solution, because it restricts no freedom but the one to close the software.
  - delano 16y ago
    Perhaps that's true. The opportunity to generate a profit is a significant motivator for a lot of people though. That's not true for everyone and those people will write and release regardless. But for those that it is true, they will spend time on something they wouldn't otherwise and likely be more productive doing it. I don't mind people using the software I write to generate a private profit. I think there's a greater net benefit in allowing more opportunities for people to make a living.
  - irickt 16y ago
    This assumes that developers will have an equal preference for improving BSD and GPL projects. Is anyone aware of a representative opinion poll?

deleted 16y ago

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