Henning Makholm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Scripsit Jeremy Hankins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> It definitely does seem to me that if this can be done via a public >> performance restriction that would be much better. > > A public-performance restriction will still be non-free in my eyes, > but it will not be quite as bad as a modification restriction. > Assuming that one can meaningfully compare badness beyond the > "non-free" label, that is. I'm undecided on that point, myself. A lot of people are concerned that this is a serious loophole -- that "web services" will get bigger and more common to the point where software is no longer distributed at all, just used over the network. It seems reasonable to me to ask what relevance the GPL (and Free Software generally) would have in such a world. But we can't fend off all possible scenarios, and I'm not convinced that this web services world is really what's going to happen. Certainly not in the extreme form where everything's done on the web and software never gets distributed. But even less extreme cases could be a concern for Free Software. I think I'd be happier if the GPL didn't (yet?) incorporate such protection, because the (real and present) harm outweighs the (chance of) benefit. But we're bound to see licenses that incorporate this sort of protection. It would be good if there were a DFSG free way to satisfy such folks. -- Jeremy Hankins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> PGP fingerprint: 748F 4D16 538E 75D6 8333 9E10 D212 B5ED 37D0 0A03
