"John van V." <john_van_v / yahoo.com> wrote:
[...]

Cutting material is one thing, but please, please leave
enough context for people to have a hope of knowing
what you are talking about.

>Ben Tilly:
> >...that if you want to do something like cut it to CD, you are going to 
>have
> > serious problems.  ...modules that cannot be used
> > in commercial code, it is a mess.
>
What I was talking about CPAN here.  Some modules can
be used in GPLed software.  Some cannot.  Some can be
bundled in proprietary software.  Some cannot.   Any
policy would, IMHO, be better than the current mess.
> >
> > > The one I'm leaning towards
> > >is having the site's "Terms of Service" specify ...
> > >the GNU Public
> > >License (GPL).
> >
> > Good idea.  Bad choice of license.

I should have never written that, given that the context
appears after and it has now been taken out of context
twice in a row.

The context is for a site that offers a Ruby version of
The Perl Cookbook.  If the goal of the site is to maximize
the usage of Ruby, then the snippets of code offered
should be available for use in virtually every kind of
software.

The GPL serves a different end.  It provides guarantees
that the users of software will possess certain rights.

>The general objection to the GPL is the perceived restriction on commercial 
>use
>of the code.  The criticism of the Artistic and Open Source licenses is 
>that is
>just business as usual.

The GPL qualifies as an open source license.  And the
criticisms, both for and against, of these licenses
quickly go beyond what you said, and can get very
complex.

>Like the Communist Manifesto, I have purposely not read the GPL, for the 
>simple
>reason that these documents rarely work as they are designed, though I have
>memorized much of the bill-o-rights
[...]

As you say, you refuse to read it.  I really don't
see anything that I can possibly add to that.

Anyways, when quoting me in the future, please try to
supply sufficient context to avoid confusing people.
This is particularly important when you are adding
busy people (like RMS) to the cc list who lack
context.

Ben
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