..keeping in mind that "public domain" has alternate 
meanings in a great number of minds, just as "proprietary" 
does (although the minds are almost always different ones).  
It is quite common (to the point of acceptability) to see that 
something has been put into the public domain as soon as it 
stops being kept secret.  One often sees that a trade secret 
has been put into the public domain by being patented.  I 
agree that such usage is confusing and shouldn't be used, 
but it is common enought that one must expect to see it and 
not through a hissy-fit at every such usage.

Just like I've had to learn not to complain every time 
someone claims that GPLed (or even BSDed) software is 
not "proprietary", even though it really just means "not in the 
public domain" if we're using strict meanings.


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