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> No copy-left license? Are you planning to make proprietary changes to `cat` you are unwilling to share? > Compatibility ... GNU coreutils work fine on all

> No copy-left license? Are you planning to make proprietary changes to `cat` you are unwilling to share? > Compatibility ... GNU coreutils work fine on all the mentioned plattforms > To annoy Richard Stallman? Not really sure if pettiness would be sufficient motivation for me, but then again, I'm writing this response...

maxloh 4y ago
GPL v3 is unsable for embedded/locked hardware, e.g. Macbook, Android phones. That's why Mac OS and Android dodged GPL v3 software.
- a2800276 4y ago
  How so? If Apple chose to distribute GNU cat, they'd need to release any modifications to cat under the GPL but the license's vitality would not "infect" the rest of OSX. Plenty of GPL software is available on osx.
  - 0dayz 4y ago
    Available and used by Apple themselves are two very different things.
    - a2800276 4y ago
      yes, Apple obviously hates GPL and wants it to die. But I'm confused what you're responding to. The claim was that GPL is unusable on OSX and that's obviously not the case. Whether Apple uses GPL is irrelevant to the matter at hand.
  - maxloh 4y ago
    No. Apple don’t ship anything that is licensed under GPL v3 [0]. In fact, they are still shipping bash 3 (the last version under GPL v2) with Mac OS [1], released 16 years ago. The decision is also affected by the Tivoization clause introduced to GPL v3. > If MacOS included GPLv3 software, Apple wouldn't be able to pre-install it unless they provided all users with signing keys to install their own modified versions of the GPLv3 software on-target. Check out the GPLv3's "User Product" and "Installation Information" sections for more details - they're written in plain English, and are pretty clear. [2] [0]: https://meta.ath0.com/2012/02/05/apples-great-gpl-purge/ https://meta.ath0.com/2012/02/05/apples-great-gpl-purge/ [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20102563 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20102563 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21819415 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21819415
    - jasomill 4y ago
      Apple doesn't ship bash with iOS, and you don't need signing keys to install modified versions of bash on macOS. But Apple holds lots of patents[1], and while it's hard for me to imagine Apple enforcing patents against users of bash, I can easily imagine Apple lawyers making a strong enough case to management that the potential value of all patent licenses that would be implicitly granted by GPL 3 was likely to exceed the cost of feature-freezing or replacing affected macOS components that they would have agreed to a blanket ban. Note that I'm not defending this decision: for the record, I detest software patents, dislike tivoization, and the only problem I have with GPL 3 is when companies that might otherwise contribute to GPL 3 projects are uncomfortable with it. Which is unfortunate, but certainly not a flaw in the license itself. [1] https://patents.google.com/?assignee=%22Apple+Inc%22&oq=assignee:%22Apple+Inc%22 https://patents.google.com/?assignee=%22Apple+Inc%22&oq=assi...
margorczynski 4y ago
> Are you planning to make proprietary changes to `cat` you are unwilling to share? Presenting to you Panthera(TM) - the Enterprise Ready cat that you were waiting for! * LDAP support * Office 365 integration * SAP integration * GDPR compliant outputs * 24/7 SLA
- ChocolateGod 4y ago
  Where do I sign my soul away to get this amazing software
- hulitu 4y ago
  Man, don't give them ideas. Have you seen systemd, pulseaudio and wayland ?

maxloh 4y ago

GPL v3 is unsable for embedded/locked hardware, e.g. Macbook, Android phones. That's why Mac OS and Android dodged GPL v3 software.

a2800276 4y ago
How so? If Apple chose to distribute GNU cat, they'd need to release any modifications to cat under the GPL but the license's vitality would not "infect" the rest of OSX. Plenty of GPL software is available on osx.
- 0dayz 4y ago
  Available and used by Apple themselves are two very different things.
  - a2800276 4y ago
    yes, Apple obviously hates GPL and wants it to die. But I'm confused what you're responding to. The claim was that GPL is unusable on OSX and that's obviously not the case. Whether Apple uses GPL is irrelevant to the matter at hand.
- maxloh 4y ago
  No. Apple don’t ship anything that is licensed under GPL v3 [0]. In fact, they are still shipping bash 3 (the last version under GPL v2) with Mac OS [1], released 16 years ago. The decision is also affected by the Tivoization clause introduced to GPL v3. > If MacOS included GPLv3 software, Apple wouldn't be able to pre-install it unless they provided all users with signing keys to install their own modified versions of the GPLv3 software on-target. Check out the GPLv3's "User Product" and "Installation Information" sections for more details - they're written in plain English, and are pretty clear. [2] [0]: https://meta.ath0.com/2012/02/05/apples-great-gpl-purge/ https://meta.ath0.com/2012/02/05/apples-great-gpl-purge/ [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20102563 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20102563 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21819415 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21819415
  - jasomill 4y ago
    Apple doesn't ship bash with iOS, and you don't need signing keys to install modified versions of bash on macOS. But Apple holds lots of patents[1], and while it's hard for me to imagine Apple enforcing patents against users of bash, I can easily imagine Apple lawyers making a strong enough case to management that the potential value of all patent licenses that would be implicitly granted by GPL 3 was likely to exceed the cost of feature-freezing or replacing affected macOS components that they would have agreed to a blanket ban. Note that I'm not defending this decision: for the record, I detest software patents, dislike tivoization, and the only problem I have with GPL 3 is when companies that might otherwise contribute to GPL 3 projects are uncomfortable with it. Which is unfortunate, but certainly not a flaw in the license itself. [1] https://patents.google.com/?assignee=%22Apple+Inc%22&oq=assignee:%22Apple+Inc%22 https://patents.google.com/?assignee=%22Apple+Inc%22&oq=assi...

margorczynski 4y ago

> Are you planning to make proprietary changes to `cat` you are unwilling to share? Presenting to you Panthera(TM) - the Enterprise Ready cat that you were waiting for! * LDAP support * Office 365 integration * SAP integration * GDPR compliant outputs * 24/7 SLA

ChocolateGod 4y ago
Where do I sign my soul away to get this amazing software
hulitu 4y ago
Man, don't give them ideas. Have you seen systemd, pulseaudio and wayland ?