Re: Check this out. iSeries Access for Linux!!

Argh. <licensing political rant>

On Wed, Sep 24, 2003 at 10:49:09AM -0600, James Rich wrote:
> And since it is licensed under the GNU GPL it protects your rights as 
> well.  Specifically:
> 
> 1.  you have the right to use the software for any purpose
> 2.  you have the right to modify the software
> 3.  these rights cannot be revoked
> 
> There are others as well, but those (to me) are the most important.

The GPL is one license that protects these rights, but it is far from the
only one. Any license that meets the Open Source Definition (which can be
found at http://www.opensource.org ) protects these rights, as well. Where
they differ is in the other rights that are protected or granted,
specifically the right to distribute, or not, modified versions of the
software and under what conditions. Discussions of the exact scope and
nature of the different licenses is outside the realm of technical
discussion, since it gets very political very fast. (I refuse to use GPLed
software when equivalent, Open Source, but non-GPLed, software is available,
because I disagree violently with the implied politics of the GPL.)

"GPLed" implies "Open Source", but not the reverse, and it is "Open Source"
that carries the rights you describe. Please do not confuse the two, in your
mind or in the minds of your audience.