2009-12-16

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 . ]

No comments: