On Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 11:02:36PM +0900, Robert Dober wrote:
> On 3/13/07, John Joyce <dangerwillrobinsondanger / gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >I don't want to start a war or big debate, but the FSF threatening
> >legal action against little guys is not good, they should be going
> >after bigger fish to pursue their goals. But the idea of forcing
> >everyone else to make free software is a bit extreme. GPL3 is a bit
> >wacked. I respect their place in history, but even reading the FSF
> >coding guidelines sounds like Stallman speaking rather than rational
> >writing. Perhaps his ego has gotten the best of him.
> 
> 
> 
> No problem this can only be a healthy thing, stretching our tolerance as I
> said.
> 
> It is normal that some rumors are worrying but what do we really know about
> that threats?

Quite a bit, if you were following the news on the subject at the time.
I'm sure you could confirm the details pretty easily -- an FSF
spokesperson would probably even give you some official position paper
on the subject if you asked persistently (and politely) enough.  Be
aware there'd be spin on it -- but I'm pretty sure you could pick out
the relevant facts.  You could then compare it for points of agreement
and a different perspective with information from the MEPIS project and
other Linux distributions who have been at the wrong end of the FSF's
stick.  That's all assuming that the information that was once online is
now not so easily accessible -- I know that at least one source of
information has been taken down (a MEPIS project posting about the
subject was replaced with GPL compliance FAQ, or something to that
effect).


> I also think they should be indulgent but maybe I find time to research a
> little bit about these cases and maybe drop them a friendly mail.

Excellent.  Let me know how that works out for you, please.


> 
> BTW as Ruby can be licensed under the GPL this is all but OFF TOPIC, I feel.

Good point -- but I guess I can see the opposing perspective as well,
that it is sort of off topic.  Sort of.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
"Real ugliness is not harsh-looking syntax, but having to
build programs out of the wrong concepts." - Paul Graham