Anthony Towns <aj@azure.humbug.org.au> writes: > Sure. Compare this to some code using the GPL; same sort of information, > same problem with it: their trade secrets are woven into the functionality > of the code itself. If one of your customers is a competitor, or a > competitor buys out a user, any requirement to distribute source to your > users makes it non-viable to use the software for certain applications > which are, eg, protected by BSD-style licenses.
Except the GPL doesn't force you to share your secrets, ever. You can share them with exactly the people you want to share them with, and you are never obligated to share them with person X just because you shared them with person Y. > Arguments about practicality, that this makes doing legitimate things harder > or impossible in some situations for purely technical reasons (the stranded > on an island test does this), are valid, but I haven't really seen any. It's not about practicality; it's about freedom. The question is: should I get to control the behavior of that other person in the way they modify and copy the software? The default answer is "no", and any deviation from that needs defense. Some deviations can be defended as an augment to freedom (required change notices like those the GPL has; requirement to distribute source with binarie). Other deviations cannot be defended as an augment to freedom. Forcing the distribution to any third party, it seems to me, is a deviation of the latter sort. At least, I haven't heard of any defense of such a deviation, on any other principle than "it makes sure that they contribute back". But free software was never about forcing people to contribute back. That was always a happily hoped for by-product of the system. Indeed, the whole genius of the system is the way that it produces unforced contributions back. > Another possibility is that getting such clauses *right*, in a way that > can't be abused by the author to harass the user, or otherwise create > an undue burden on the user, is impossible -- that we haven't seen any > examples which do this remotely well; but that the possibility remains > that one day we would, and we'd be willing to accept that license into > main. That is, there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with this, > as long as the user's costs can be minimised [0]. For the time being, I think debating the details of wording is not worth it, because I think there is a problem with the basic concept. So let's talk about the basic concept. > (And yes, I do realise I was arguing the other side of this just a day > or two ago) Aw, heck, once I was defending the GNU FDL. We all learn and change. :)