On Tue, 6 Jul 1999, IGNATIUS NAYAN D'ROZARIO wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I was just reading a bit of legal stuff when something struck me ... If
> Linux IS an open-source software and is under the GNU licence thingy, who
> hold the intellectual property rights to Linux.
The 'General Public' holds those rights. That is the purpose of the
General Public Licence, to transfer intellectual monopoly...err..property
repression...er..rights back the the general public rather than being
controlled by an individual.
In a globalized economy, IP no longer makes sence. Giving exclusive
access to market an idea needs to both be limited by time as well as
geography. US lobbiest are trying to remove both these limitations so
that the first (most often US..) person to file an idea with the US
offices (With extensions to WIPO and beyond) will have monopolistic power
over it worldwide and forever.
Many of us (and I mean information liberation advocates, not Linux Users
who don't all use Linux for the same reasons) feel they are in a fight for
independance and basic freedom of expression, and that our space is
currently 'occupied' by an oppressive regime (Intellectual property and
its benefactors) which continues to threaten colonistic expansion into all
aspects of life.
> and DID develop the initial thing ( and still does so today... ) we do
> realize that a lot of the development work is actually carried out by a
> whole gamut of people. Who will be said to hold the intellectual property
> rights to Linux AS IT IS RIGHT NOW ?
As with any proper science you have people who win awards and people who
get credit for their work, but not exclusive control. There is a
recognition that any idea is built upon other ideas: while Linus
sparked the development of the kernel, very little of the kernel code
is his own, and the kernel itself is a very tiny part of what is
commonly thought of as 'Linux'.
As with science the people who win the awards are the ones who publish
their works rather than keeping things secret. Had Linus slapped a
copyright rather than a copyleft on his work not only would Linux not have
been developed any further (and none of us would have ever heard of it)
but Linus himself would not have been credited as having accomplished
anything in his lifetime.
> I have unsubscribed from the main ILUG list due to MASSIVE volumes.
BTW: Good topic to increase the volume of posts in ilug-cal.
---
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://russell.flora.org/work/>
Take the Propriatary vs Free Software challenge? Do propriatary
vendors offer any advantages to the consumer?
http://www.flora.org/flora.comnet-www/1491
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