4 ms·

Does GPL hurt free software?

5 points by uggedal 14y ago

willvarfar 14y ago
This is more thinking out loud - stumbling out loud - than a definitive understanding. The blogger should blog again when the confusion has cleared.
JohnTHaller 14y ago
This blog post was obviously done without even a few minutes of research. Developers have different and valid reasons for choosing BSD vs GPL/LGPL. BSD lets the developer give up any and all control and lets everyone do whatever they want with code/software. The GPL lets the developer share but enforce that the code/software will remain Free/open. Lots of folks who develop in their spare time like contributing but don't want someone taking their work and closing it up, commercializing it and making money off of it without contributing back to the overall community. There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the most popular software license.
- rumcajz 14y ago
  Yup. The "spite" motivation. The question is how strong an incentive spite is. Things like money or fame are better in motivating people IMO.
  - gatlin 14y ago
    It's not about spite. It's about preserving the motivation to continue developing free software. It's nice thinking that the fruits of my labor will benefit everyone and that derivative efforts will as well. The GPL gets an awful lot of flack from a community that owes it so much and I truly don't understand why.
    - JohnTHaller 14y ago
      Greed and selfishness play a role. Some folks like being able to take things without having to give in return. And they get frustrated when they find an awesome library that does what they want but they can't use it in their paid/closed product because it is GPLed. And there isn't an equivalent BSD/MIT licensed library. There are equivalent commercial libraries, but they cost money. So the dev winds up complaining about the GPL.
      - gatlin 14y ago
        While I suspected as much, I figure it's worth asking in case there is a nobler reason that I'm simply unaware of. I don't want to presume too much.
- Turing_Machine 14y ago
  "There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the most popular software license." Is it? I honestly don't know, but my gut feeling is that I run across the MIT license more often these days. Maybe it's just an artifact of the stuff I do?
  - JohnTHaller 14y ago
    It is, by a large margin: http://osrc.blackducksoftware.com/data/licenses/ http://osrc.blackducksoftware.com/data/licenses/

5 points by uggedal 14y ago

This is more thinking out loud - stumbling out loud - than a definitive understanding. The blogger should blog again when the confusion has cleared.

JohnTHaller 14y ago

This blog post was obviously done without even a few minutes of research. Developers have different and valid reasons for choosing BSD vs GPL/LGPL. BSD lets the developer give up any and all control and lets everyone do whatever they want with code/software. The GPL lets the developer share but enforce that the code/software will remain Free/open. Lots of folks who develop in their spare time like contributing but don't want someone taking their work and closing it up, commercializing it and making money off of it without contributing back to the overall community. There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the most popular software license.

rumcajz 14y ago
Yup. The "spite" motivation. The question is how strong an incentive spite is. Things like money or fame are better in motivating people IMO.
- gatlin 14y ago
  It's not about spite. It's about preserving the motivation to continue developing free software. It's nice thinking that the fruits of my labor will benefit everyone and that derivative efforts will as well. The GPL gets an awful lot of flack from a community that owes it so much and I truly don't understand why.
  - JohnTHaller 14y ago
    Greed and selfishness play a role. Some folks like being able to take things without having to give in return. And they get frustrated when they find an awesome library that does what they want but they can't use it in their paid/closed product because it is GPLed. And there isn't an equivalent BSD/MIT licensed library. There are equivalent commercial libraries, but they cost money. So the dev winds up complaining about the GPL.
    - gatlin 14y ago
      While I suspected as much, I figure it's worth asking in case there is a nobler reason that I'm simply unaware of. I don't want to presume too much.
Turing_Machine 14y ago
"There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the most popular software license." Is it? I honestly don't know, but my gut feeling is that I run across the MIT license more often these days. Maybe it's just an artifact of the stuff I do?
- JohnTHaller 14y ago
  It is, by a large margin: http://osrc.blackducksoftware.com/data/licenses/ http://osrc.blackducksoftware.com/data/licenses/