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GPL protects the software itself against becoming proprietary. Developers are forced to ignore GPL'd code only if they are unwilling to distribute their code un
by alwayslikethis 4y ago
GPL protects the software itself against becoming proprietary. Developers are forced to ignore GPL'd code only if they are unwilling to distribute their code under GPL, because the company is unwilling to make a pledge to respect the freedom of the users. Writing more GPL'd code gives advantage to those who are willing to respect the user's freedom.
- mustache_kimono 4y ago> Developers are forced to ignore GPL'd code only if they are unwilling to distribute their code under GPL If the choice is "you only have one choice", that's not really a choice at all? I have complete freedom to choose the licenses for my personal projects and I stay away from GPL and its variants (still love copyleft and the MPL2!), because devs are users too, and I (and they) see the GPL as very dev unfriendly. The GPL treats "users" and "devs" as abstractions, when in a very real sense, the devs are the ones most likely to use the code, and they are more likely to use it when it's more permissively licensed. And many are very pleased/want to use copyleft, if it isn't the GPL, and the FSF's ridiculous interpretations thereof.