On Fri, 29 Aug 2003, Darren Reed wrote: > In some mail from [EMAIL PROTECTED], sie said: > > > > There's just one little problem with your logic: > > > > Unless the law specifically prohibits disclaimer of liability, there's no= > > thing > > illegal about a clause that does so. And in the best "be careful what yo= > > u wish > > for, as you may get it", you might want to go back and re-read clause 11 = > > and 12 > > of the GPL, Version 2, and ask yourself if *ANY* GPL'ed software would ge= > > t > > released if that clause was illegal. If it was in fact illegal to discla= > > im > > liability, clause 7 would totally prohibit you from distributing it *AT A= > > LL*. > > > > Then there's the issue of mom-n-pop software shops and small consulting > > firms - they can't hide behind a "we're giving it away for free" clause i= > > n the > > hypothetical law, but they'd be insane to stay in business without softwa= > > re > > liability insurance. How many insurance companies are offering *THAT* > > at rates a 2-5 person consulting firm can afford? > > I, for one, would not cry if the law made it impossible to sell or > provide GPL'd software to people because it could not be provieded > with a disclaimer.
For your information, the GNU General Public License is applicable in the act of distribution. Th warranty can be an additional contract between the buyer of a service and the consulting firm. The GNU General Public License is a method to protect the four freedoms of free software. It's not a method to define a warranty... > Sooner or later the software industry needs to grow up and take > responsibility for the crap that it unloads onto the world, > pretending it to be a product worth using. GPL software especially. Don't mix the license used and the quality of a software product, this is not linked. They are crappy software under the GNU GPL and they are excellent software under the GNU GPL. thanks, adulau. -- -- Alexandre Dulaunoy (adulau) -- http://www.foo.be/ -- http://pgp.ael.be:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x44E6CBCD -- "Knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance -- that we can solve them" Isaac Asimov _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html
