gpl can be american not communism

6.14:

co.apt/pol/gpl can be american not communism:

[. gpl was once accused of being unamerican communism

in that it stifled competition and reduced quality

by giving the masses low-quality but free substitutes .]

. the key to good competition while revealing source code,

is the fair use of software patents .

. patents are fair when they do not interfere with creativity:

there should be multiple algorithms for doing a job

and a patent goes to those who prove they have an algorithm that is not obvious,

and that is performing better than the obvious .

. even without patents,

the gpl doesn't require documentation be distributed;

so then openware can still demand pay for their programs

by having a copyright on their documentation .

[also, the original vision of the gpl

was that if we all bought your software,

we should be able to share improvements on your software .

. we are not locked into your unamerican but natural habit

of trying to lock us into buying an endless progression of fixes .

. gpl does not mean that we can share your code among

those who did not buy your program . ]