Re: Software relicensing, how is it done ?

[Ciaran O'Riordan <ciaran fsfe org>]

"Tristan Van Berkom" <tvb gnome org> writes:
> commercial vendor's success will inevitably
> be measured by their willingness to cooperate (give and take) with
> the bazaar that is free software.

There's an excellent article by David Wheeler explaining why this doesn't
work, citing real examples from the last ten years:
http://www.dwheeler.com/blog/2006/09/01/#gpl-bsd

> I welcome the competition

With the LGPL, you will share, and your competitors won't.  Your work will
benefit them, and their work won't benfit you.

The risk is that you'll always have N features and they'll have N+M, so many
users will end up using non-free versions of your software.  These versions
might include spyware, or might break GNOME standards, or might refuse to
work with certain software packages, or might lock them in over time by not
offering an "export" feature ...etc.

> If you really think that selling any software is not OK,

Selling free software is fine.  It's ok with the licence, and it's an
important way to raise funds to further improve free software.

> I wont stand in the way of your freedom in a consumers
> market to use a free or proprietary tool for your own purposes.

There is coercion and unfair competition involved in people's choice to use
non-free software.  There is also a lack of awareness.

-- 
Ciarán O'Riordan, +32 477 36 44 19, http://ciaran.compsoc.com/

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