4 ms·

I agree with the spirit of this comment, but I worry about the implementation. See the comment of Manly read in this section. Once the threat of payment approa

I agree with the spirit of this comment, but I worry about the implementation. See the comment of Manly read in this section. Once the threat of payment approaches, you can just switch to a free fork. A single person can't really win a trial against a big, well-funded company.

mettamage 1y ago
They can fork it, but can they find the maintainers? If it's just their own internal employees, then they definitely have less expertise in that codebase. Might as well hire the actual expert.
Etheryte 1y ago
I don't really see how this is an issue, depending on the license text it's trivial to make the license apply in the same manner. As for winning, I think that's more of a US-centric view, if you sue elsewhere in the world there's plenty of courts that are happy to slap big tech.
- ArcHound 1y ago
  Genuine question that might sound trollish: do you please have examples of such cases?
  - Etheryte 1y ago
    I think Jacobsen vs Katzer [0] is the most relevant one to the discussion here, but there a number of successful cases on this front. If memory serves, BusyBox has also managed to enforce GPL in court on a number of occasions. [0] https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/jacobsen-v-katzer https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/jacobsen-v-katzer
- pavel_lishin 1y ago
  Suing a major corporation still seems like quite a bit of work, and what's the end goal? Is it to humble a major company, or to get paid? Because if it's the latter, it feels like there are easier ways to do so.
  - Etheryte 1y ago
    This is obviously a subjective opinion, but at least in my mind, the point is to defend your rights. No one else is going to come along and defend you against the corporate steamroller.
zamalek 1y ago
If the license were copyleft forking would not be a solution.
- immibis 1y ago
  Fails the desert island test then. But maybe that's fine. The world is different from 1980's. Different license approaches are needed and Richard Stallman is not God.
  - zamalek 1y ago
    It's crazy. I used think his ideas were completely unrealistic and him being a general loon. He has certainly had the last laugh (or first tear, really). I still think he's definitely not correct on all fronts, but I pay more attention to his opinions on tech.

mettamage 1y ago

They can fork it, but can they find the maintainers? If it's just their own internal employees, then they definitely have less expertise in that codebase. Might as well hire the actual expert.

Etheryte 1y ago

I don't really see how this is an issue, depending on the license text it's trivial to make the license apply in the same manner. As for winning, I think that's more of a US-centric view, if you sue elsewhere in the world there's plenty of courts that are happy to slap big tech.

ArcHound 1y ago
Genuine question that might sound trollish: do you please have examples of such cases?
- Etheryte 1y ago
  I think Jacobsen vs Katzer [0] is the most relevant one to the discussion here, but there a number of successful cases on this front. If memory serves, BusyBox has also managed to enforce GPL in court on a number of occasions. [0] https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/jacobsen-v-katzer https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/jacobsen-v-katzer
pavel_lishin 1y ago
Suing a major corporation still seems like quite a bit of work, and what's the end goal? Is it to humble a major company, or to get paid? Because if it's the latter, it feels like there are easier ways to do so.
- Etheryte 1y ago
  This is obviously a subjective opinion, but at least in my mind, the point is to defend your rights. No one else is going to come along and defend you against the corporate steamroller.

zamalek 1y ago

If the license were copyleft forking would not be a solution.

immibis 1y ago
Fails the desert island test then. But maybe that's fine. The world is different from 1980's. Different license approaches are needed and Richard Stallman is not God.
- zamalek 1y ago
  It's crazy. I used think his ideas were completely unrealistic and him being a general loon. He has certainly had the last laugh (or first tear, really). I still think he's definitely not correct on all fronts, but I pay more attention to his opinions on tech.