On 1/8/07, Hugh Fisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Kyle Winkler wrote:
> We should defiantly jump on any opportunity to team up with the FSF. Even
> if you don't agree with them 100%, they are very good at getting things
> done, and they are after the same things we are. They apparently have some
> monetary resources as well, as they pledged $60,000 to the Free Ryzom
> project before it failed.
I strongly disagree.
When this project was started, there was a long debate about
how 'free' / 'libre' the project was. The eventual outcome
was that we don't care what OS gets used and that the specs
and driver code would be available to Linux, BSD, and yes
even Microsoft Windows.
That fits the definition of 'open source' rather than 'free
software' as promoted by the FSF.
I discussed this privately with RMS, and his recommendation was for us
to use the X11 license for our software. If I understand him
correctly, he believes that the X11 license is a Free Software
license, despite the fact that it allows source code to be "closed
up". While he seems to prefer the GPL, the fact that X11 allows the
source to be closed up does not impact the general "Freeness" of the
software. This is a little confusing to me.
RMS asserts that there are no practical differences between "Free
Software" and "Open Source." There are only motivational ones. Free
Software focuses on the ethics, while Open Source focuses on practical
issues. In my discussions with him, I was not able to come up with an
example of something that was Open Source but not also Free Software.
That is, in each case where I suggested something as being Open but
not Free, he explained how it did not fit the Open Source definition
either.
(There were those who disagreed, and eventually stormed off
declaring that they would produce a REAL free graphics card.)
I wonder where those guys are. :)
I'd also point out that the FSF has a reputation, deserved
or not, for being hostile to business interests, which may
make it harder to find OEM/etc partners.
They don't seem to have a problem with TrollTech or MySQL.
Note that the GPL doesn't forbid you from charging for software.
Indeed, in the early days of the FSF, I believe RMS earned some money
from selling copies of GCC.
--
Timothy Miller
http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~millerti
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