🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <24727@hoptoad.uucp> gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) writes:
>On SunOS and SVR4, if the GPLL'd library is a shared library, your
>ordinary executables are *already* linkable versions.  The user can

That's a good point.  For a few of the platforms we support that
would make things easier.

>>   Now I get more specific to our case.  When we started out we got initial financing
>>   from several companies in return to source rights and reduced royalties.  Those
>>   companies have the right to source to new versions of our product.  We cannot
>>   give them source which restricts their use of our product.  Using the LGPL would
>>   do exactly that.
>If you freed your software, you could immediately take back a version
>which you could give to the companies that financed you.  This would make
>the software copylefted for most people, but versions distributed by
>your financing companies would not be free.  This is still better than
>it being free for nobody.

That only works for GPL'ing our software, it still means we can't use any
other GPL'd code in it.  And in fact it gets worse, since we wouldn't be
able to encorporate any enhancements to the GPL'd version in our version.

>>                  If you believe that's wrong, and that software should be
>> free and we should all follow Cygnus's example, then as I say, go for it
>> with GPL.  I even think it's a nice ideal, but I wouldn't apply it just
>> to software.  It's even better if applied to basics like food, clothing
>> and heat.  But practically speaking we haven't figured out yet how to
>> make that kind of society function.
>
>When we can reproduce food, clothing and heat at near-zero cost per person,
>we had better have figured out how to make that kind of society function.
>Many people are working on the technology to do just that.  Consider GNU
>software an economic testbed for the potential post-scarcity society.

Unfortunately I don't believe such a society is feasible, so I'd rather
invest my efforts in improving the current system rather then trying to
replace it.
-- 
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I'm not sure which upsets me more: that people are so unwilling to accept
responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate
everyone else's.