Re: [ox-en] Dangerous changes in the GPL 3.0
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten oekonux.de>
- Date: Sun, 06 Nov 2005 15:10:26 +0100
Hi Per and all!
Last month (30 days ago) Per I Mathisen wrote:
On Thu, 6 Oct 2005, Stefan Merten wrote:
The GPL is *not* based on reciprocity so far.
True in a sense - the GPL does not require each and every person who uses
the GPL to do anything at all; it only places limitations on how the
licensed material can be redistributed. There is no indication this is
going to change, only that the redistribution limitations may be slightly
changed.
The change as I understand it is that software that implements internet
services and which has a feature that allows a user to download the source
code to itself may not be removed or subverted.
This is quite different what I heard so far from different sources -
though indeed they all might be wrong.
I find this idea (no opinion on technical aspects of it) quite reasonable.
This sounds at least not as deliberate as what I heard.
Anyway, I'd be grateful if someone who has some deeper insights in
what is happening currently could report here.
The reason for this that GPL is based on a kind of reciprocity. For a
large part, I think the "economy" of free software works because people
have some kind of security against being "ripped off". The fear of being
taken unfairly advantage of is natural and strong to us as human beings.
The GPL works as a kind of 'safeguard' to ensure that the playing field is
kept level and people do not become resentful, pick up their toys and go
home. I think this is perhaps a much greater strength of the GPL than its
ability to encourage others to contribute code back to the commons.
You may be right here. In fact the BSD licenses have a smaller share
in all the Free Software licenses and this may be for this reason.
However, this breaks down for internet services (and, incidentially, for
multimedia). If I write a great internet-based game and publish the source
code, a company can take the code, make improvements to it, and use it to
attracts users, competing with my own offering and taking users away from
it, without contributing anything back. My fear of this scenario may keep
me from publishing the source code in the first place.
So where is the big difference with Internet services based on Free
Software?
You confuse simple in-house processing with dynamic processes running over
the internet. If you use a preprocessor or a compiler to create something
that you present on the internet, the new rule would not apply.
Why should applications that are run remotely by users/customers over the
internet be exempt from the demands of the GPL?
I don't see the point. In any instance some (Free) software is used to
deliver and enhance some user experience. Whether or not this user
experience is a nicely typeset book (by LaTeX) or an Internet game -
what's the difference? By the GPL the end user has no right to get the
sources of a may be changed LaTeX distribution - why should s/he for
the Internet game?
No, if you walk down this path in the end every result achieved by
Free Software needs the option to access the sources.
IMHO there is a clear distinction between delivering some software to
a customer and giving a customer access to some software. For instance
when sending mail I'm using the (Free) software of my ISP.
Applications used directly in the Internet are clearly no software
delivery but only a different user frontend.
I have no problems with a new license somehow commanding the offerer
of some use value to publish the code which delivers this use value.
But IMHO this has nothing to do with the spirit of the GPL. It should
be a separate license or may be an additional building block for the
GPL as there are building blocks in the CC licenses.
Mit Freien Grüßen
Stefan
--
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