Re: Using GPL for LibGTop with an exception for the GNOME Project

[Miguel de Icaza <miguel nuclecu unam mx>]

> If there was a version of the GPL which did not discriminate against
> other free licenses I could be convinced otherwise.

It is not a matter of discriminating other free licenses.  It is a way
of increasing the pool of free software assets.

We are working for free (as in we do not get money from our work) and
the reason for which I use the GPL is because we do not want our work
to be used in a setup in which we will be deprived from a derivative
work of us.  

Let me cite you a number of examples in which I think companies have
used a large ammount of free software code and have locked users into
using their proprietary software without granting us any of the free
software rights:

	 1. X11R6.  At least HP, Sun and SGI have improved
            significantly the X server, and they are not sharing with
            us all of their improvements.  

	    They just have just contributed back what they required to
	    keep track of the latest X11R6.

	    I have personally been bitten by this.  As in, I was
	    working on re-implementing various of the bits that are
	    proprietary for Linux.

	 2. BSD derivatives and Mach: Companies took BSD and adapted
            it in various forms to their systems.  Sun, HP, SGI, Sony,
            DEC have all taken the code, enhanced it and never given
            back their changes to the developers.

	    And I was also bitten by this when I was working on a
	    Mach/Sparc port. 

   I bet there are many other instances where software has gone
proprietary, and the user was stuck with whatever the company choose
to provide. 

> The result of this is that commercial apps will be
> more bloated and less portable - I suspect that these are not the
> sort of advantages that you had in mind.

I think you mean proprietary applications, not commercial apps.

Let me point out something:  At this stage I do not care anymore for
proprietary applications.  We have proved that we can implement
pretty much anything we need or want in a free software setup. 

The next step in the software competition will not be held in terms of
which piece of software has more features, but rather it will be held
in terms of which piece of software is free/open-sourced and which one
it is not.

This is natural selection applied to software, if people do not open
up their software, that will become their handicap, not ours.

And I bet that Martin, as the (C) holder for libGTop will be able to
provide the code under a something acceptable to other projects that
need it.  He might even sell commercial licenses of libGTop to
proprietary companies and make some money from licensing his code to
proprietary people which are interested in it.

Miguel.