Re: [LINUX5250] License is a non-issue?

[Steve Fox <drfickle@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2002-02-07 at 18:32, Scott Klement wrote:
> I'd prefer the BSD license.  Why?  Because I find all of these legal
> technicalities to be a hassle and a nuisance.  I want to be protected
> against any unforseen lawsuits that may someday develop from the use of
> my software...  I want to protect my name on the work...  I don't want to
> restrict what it can be linked with, or how it can be distributed.

The GPL may be more strict, causing code mixing headaches, but there is
reason for it. Not all developers are willing to willing to let some fly
by night company [1] (or a large 800 lb gorilla) come by, swoop up their
code, make a few tweaks to it, then sell it for big bucks while not
giving any credit to the original developers and never contributing any
code back.

The GPL truly is a defense mechanism. If the other authors don't mind
the above scenario, then the BSD license would be a good choice. On the
other hand, the LGPL is a very nice balance which will solve all the
distribution problems, without giving up the farm to whomever wants to
harvest your code.

[1] Remember the Everybuddy instant messenger fiasco? Or the VirtualDub
fiasco? tn5250 probably isn't sexy enough for this to happen, but they
illustrate a valid example of how Open Source code can be used abused by
companies out to make a quick buck.

--

Steve Fox
IBM Linux Technology Center
http://www.ibm.com/linux/ltc
http://k-lug.org