> -----Original Message----- > From: Chris Cox [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 12:59 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Anyone Nagios? (GPL discussion) > > <snip> > > RMS speaks of the need for localized customizations (non > distributed) work on GPL software. The idea is that > programmers should get paid for making local customizations. > Doesn't necessarily address the SW shop though... where > the SW is the source of revenue. But of course, community > SW isn't produced by a company.. but by a community. >
For me this seems to mean then that if you are going to write some software and GPL it, then there is no financial incentive to R&D or even for the initial development. You wan't to be doing you customizations on things that exist, not sinking time and money into a project initially in the hopes that the world will find it useful and pay you to customize it. This doesn't seem like it would lead to much new software being developed. I mean new in the sense of different or areas where there is not a lot of software today. It doesn't seem to foster a healthy pipeline of new software and it does seem a lot of sourceforge is just old Unix programs redux. GPL does seem to work though for some. I think you need to look at what you are trying to accomplish and think hard about the best license to do that. <snip> Good post Chris
