Re: Fedora Desktop future- RedHat moves


On Mon, 2008-04-28 at 13:35 -0400, max bianco wrote:
On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 11:47 AM, Matthew Saltzman <mjs@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Mon, 2008-04-28 at 10:41 -0400, max bianco wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 12:23 AM, Les Mikesell <lesmikesell@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >

Which is a bizarre thing to be concerned about because the only thing they
> > could possibly do to diminish the value of the original copy would be to
> > improve it so much that no one would want the original. As a potential user
> > of that improved version, I think that restriction is a bad thing. And most
> > bizarre of all is the notion that I can't obtain my own copy of a GPL'd
> > library, and someone else's code under their own terms separately.
> >
> The hard work is done by the original author. So if I understand you
> correctly, its ok with you if i use your code, improve it, and
> relicense it so what you freely contributed is now going to cost you
> money. So your hard work now belongs to someone else.
>

I don't think anyone is talking about modifying your code and
relicensing it. That would clearly be a derived work, and there's no
question you can impose conditions on its redistribution.

You write a library. I write a program that calls routines in your
library. Now the question is whether your license can impose conditions
on my distribution of my own code. That's a fuzzy, gray area, but (to
mix a metaphor) it's just the tip of the iceberg of complexity.

ChipCo creates a piece of specialized hardware and releases a
proprietary driver. I write code to interface your library and the
ChipCo driver. Can your license prevent me from distributing my code?
If so, you and I might have a reasonable disagreement about whether
that's a good thing. But you can't deny that some people who might
benefit from my code (and by extension, your code) are prevented from
doing so. You can only argue that some greater good is served by their
suffering. Note that I want to be generous with my code and release it
under an open-source license; I'm not trying to unfairly benefit from
your work.

You write a library and distribute it under an open-source license. I
write a library and distribute it under a slightly different--but
incompatible--open-source license. Les writes a program that links to
both libraries. If your license can impose conditions on Les's
distribution of his program, then users who would get value from Les's
program are SOL. Note that nothing here violates the spirit of OSS.
Everyone involved wants to be generous. Nobody is trying to unfairly
benefit from anyone else's work. But due to a technicality, nobody can
benefit from Les's work at all! That seems like a shame, doesn't it?


Yes it does but what then is the answer?Everybody argues that A is
right or B is wrong or c....you get the idea. What is the solution?
Let's stop going over the same ground and come up with some kind of
solution. The end user is ultimately the only one that matters, i
think everyone can agree on that, if the end user cannot get their
work done then everyone suffers, so what should we as end user's
do?should i have to pay for a brand new office suite when nothing
substantial except the companies desire to support it has changed?That
is an example not a way to drag M$ into this, so please lets leave the
M$ bashing where it belongs. this will of course create another debate
but at least we will subtly change the content of the conversation.

I agree - a solution needs to be found. But then, this is what the heart
of this whole thread has been about: legalities of linking different
licenses. And Fedora and a minority of users has taken a stand on one
side of this issue. Will they condescend to a level where an agreement
can be reached?

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