[Sussex] A nice article

[Steve Dobson]

Geoff

On Fri, Apr 15, 2005 at 08:19:12PM +0100, Geoffrey Teale wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-04-15 at 19:08 +0100, Alan F wrote:
> > Another interesting article I found today - nice to see there are
> > people actually enforcing the GPL. I don't really like the statement
> > "It also shows some computer industry growing pains from adopting
> > open-source software.", since of course adopters should be following
> > the licence if they *choose* to base their product on software
> > licenced under it.
> 
> I whole heartedly agree with that.  If people base their products on GPL
> code they should respect that license.
 
I liked the paragraph on page two:

    There could be several reasons companies don't release source code
    for GPL software that they include in products. They might not be
    aware of the GPL's provisions, thinking that software it governs is
    merely in the public domain. They might have software enhancements
    they want to keep secret. Or they might simply be using software
    from a third party and not even know it contains GPL components.

This shows a complete lack of the understanding of the software development
processes today.  Nowhere does it say that if your write any software you run
the risk of infringing someones patent.  If you're writing propriety software
you're one you're own in the court room.  It is probably better to settle out
of court.

Personally I think that GPLing code is safer.  If someone does try and sue
you for patent infringement then the Free Software Community will gather
around and help out.  We'll dig our collective memories to find instances
of prior art, and if you start a fund, we'll probably fund the legal fees
too.

> > And in other news.. I take my first driving lesson tomorrow, so *maybe*
> > a moot is on the cards for me in the next few months. :o :D
> 
> Best of luck.  

Where do you live, I want to know what part of the county to avoid.  :-)
Best of luck.

Steve

-- 
genlock, n.:
	Why he stays in the bottle.
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