3 ms·

They are totally different. The way Music/Movies work usually it's "don't f-ing share this, you need permission". The GPL is "we require that you share and pro

They are totally different. The way Music/Movies work usually it's "don't f-ing share this, you need permission". The GPL is "we require that you share and provide freedoms to others" In other words, copyright is usually used to block people from being good sharing neighbors. GPL requires sharing. Not sharing is wrong. So, copyright for music is against the natural tendency to be a good neighbor and people rightly blame the copyright restrictions for being awful. GPL violations means you are both infringing copyright and being a bad citizen, bad neighbor.

ksk 12y ago
Not everyone shares your particular idea of what a bad and good citizen is.
- yellowapple 12y ago
  I'm pretty sure a significant majority would agree that generosity is an important trait for a good citizen, however. An unwillingness to share makes someone look more like an asshole.
  - ksk 12y ago
    A programmer deciding not to share the fruits of their own labor does NOT make them an asshole. The thread is about Copyright and GPL code, not everything-in-the-entire-world-that-can-be-shared.
    - mcguire 12y ago
      Pretty much sure that violating a contractual agreement that you have voluntarily entered does, in fact, make you an arsehole. (Why do I have a British spell checker?)
      - ksk 12y ago
        And? I don't know what you're point is in bring up something I already agree on. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9114161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9114161
    - yellowapple 12y ago
      I said "look like", not "be". I'm sure there are plenty of closed-source programmers who really are nice people who rescue puppies from trees and bake cupcakes for school fundraisers, but that doesn't change the fact that answering the question of "Hey, would you be interested in opening up the source code of your program to the public so that people can help you write it and have some way of knowing that your program doesn't have code that sets my hard drive on fire after selling all my personal information to Latvian potato farmers?" with an unwavering "No fscking way", it's pretty understandable that the people who would instead answer "Of course!" would have an impression of that programmer being selfish or perhaps even outright malicious.

ksk 12y ago

Not everyone shares your particular idea of what a bad and good citizen is.

yellowapple 12y ago
I'm pretty sure a significant majority would agree that generosity is an important trait for a good citizen, however. An unwillingness to share makes someone look more like an asshole.
- ksk 12y ago
  A programmer deciding not to share the fruits of their own labor does NOT make them an asshole. The thread is about Copyright and GPL code, not everything-in-the-entire-world-that-can-be-shared.
  - mcguire 12y ago
    Pretty much sure that violating a contractual agreement that you have voluntarily entered does, in fact, make you an arsehole. (Why do I have a British spell checker?)
    - ksk 12y ago
      And? I don't know what you're point is in bring up something I already agree on. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9114161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9114161
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    I said "look like", not "be". I'm sure there are plenty of closed-source programmers who really are nice people who rescue puppies from trees and bake cupcakes for school fundraisers, but that doesn't change the fact that answering the question of "Hey, would you be interested in opening up the source code of your program to the public so that people can help you write it and have some way of knowing that your program doesn't have code that sets my hard drive on fire after selling all my personal information to Latvian potato farmers?" with an unwavering "No fscking way", it's pretty understandable that the people who would instead answer "Of course!" would have an impression of that programmer being selfish or perhaps even outright malicious.