I don't understand how you consider a proprietary software as free software just because they have *promised* it will be free soon! If that is the case, I am sure a lot of others would be ready to make that promise just to get publicity :-)
On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 2:29 AM, Praveen A <[email protected]> wrote: > 2008/12/14 Jayson Joseph Chacko <[email protected]>: > > > > JavaFX runtime is not free. Check out the revised Sun binary license, > > > > http://www.java.com/en/download/license.jsp > > > > It says, > > > > "Unless enforcement is prohibited by applicable law, you may not > > modify, decompile, or reverse engineer Software...." > > > > It goes on to exclude the JavaFX runtime specificially from the open > > source material, > > > > " Sun grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license > > without fees to reproduce and distribute the Software (except for the > > JavaFX Runtime)," > > > > It is clear that Sun wants to extract the benefit of projecting > > something as open source free software and at the same time wants to > > hold on to the runtime as proprietary software. They are just waiting > > to see how it turns out. :-) > > > > As we have already seen in the FSFS conference Sun is able to market > > JavaFX (think about the publicity they got) as a free software even > > though it is proprietary. That is what I call stealth marketing and I > > don't know how that is in anyway different from Novell's idea :-) > > Sun has a commitment to release their software as Free Software and > they have demonstrated in the past by releasing OpenSolaris and Java. > > Though the FAQ is pretty unclear, I got another link where they stated > it will be released as Free Software > http://java.sun.com/javafx/faqs.jsp#2 > > And, on the important question of what in JavaFX is going to be open > sourced: > > Q: Is the JavaFX Runtime the same thing as the JavaFX Script which > is to be "open sourced" as per the FAQ? > > Nandini R: Yes, it is and the runtime will be open sourced. > > Alright, good to read the clarification that the runtime will be open > sourced. > > > http://www.oreillynet.com/onjava/blog/2007/05/javafx_new_wysiwyg_editor_rama.html > > Novell's idea is different. The main issue with Novell's deal with > Microsoft is patents. They have provided legitimacy to Microsoft > patent claims on Free Software and they have divided the community > into those who pay Microsoft and those who do not making Microsoft's > job of suing Free Software users without including their own customers > (one of the biggest reason why they don't do it at the moment). It > also against the spirit of the GPL. They found a loop hole in the > wordings and exploited it. GPL v2 talked about patent license and what > Novell did was patent license in effect - they used the word "covenant > not to sue" to evade GPL. But the community fixed the loop hole in > GPLv3 by saying any deal that result in "not getting sued for patents" > irrespective of the words and tricks will be a violation of GPL. > > Sun is the largest (lines of code) contributor to Free Software and > they have difficulty in dealing with code that they have licensed from > third parties when they release it a s Free Software. > > When they announced java will be Free Software, there were some code > which Sun does not own in java which needed time to rewrite. And they > have kept their commitment by rewriting all the parts which were not > free. So from the past experiences with Sun we have a reason to > believe their word. > > But as Arun mentioned if more people volunteered for the technology > track we could have avoided this. I hope you will help with any > upcoming conferences to ensure these kind of things won't happen. > > - Cheers > Praveen > -- > പ്രവീണ് അരിമ്പ്രത്തൊടിയില് > <GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call! > <DRM> What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak? > (as seen on /.) > Join The DRM Elimination Crew Now! > http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-DRM-Campaign > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ "Freedom is the only law". "Freedom Unplugged" http://www.ilug-tvm.org You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ilug-tvm" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For details visit the website: www.ilug-tvm.org or the google group page: http://groups.google.com/group/ilug-tvm?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
