"Rafael 'Dido' Sevilla" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> True, but ignoring the issue, as some people do, leads to more problems.
> Like it or not, we live in a world where copyrights, patents, and
> trademarks have a reality thanks to government power, and not dealing
> with these issues results in getting shafted.

I'm not saying that people should ignore the issue: rather, I'm
insinuating that people should stop, look, and listen to the ideas that
have sprung up during the last 5 or so decades since software
development was established. Sheer ignorance betrays its owner;
overlooking the details definitely can bite.

I'm fresh from reading Sebesta's `Concepts of Programming Languages'[1],
where Alan Cooper (the father of VB) was interviewed on user design and
language design. In there he said that `software programs are not built
by engineers. They were built by programmers.' It could be inferred
then, that programmers shouldn't concern themselves too much with
writing licenses (but they ought to understand them, as that could be
so-so,) and focus instead on building programs, as much as ironworkers
building a bridge do not mind the worries of engineers, who must take
care their design shoudn't break and that their work satisfies the
consuming public. (Of course, an ironworker might argue about the
placement of beams and such, but that's another argument worthy of
another thread...)

I might be taking this wrong, but it does leave one to think more of
what *have* happened to the usage of software in stark contrast to what
*could* have happened to the community that surrounds it. Free software
is free software, after all, but none of that would have ever happened
if there wasn't a printer software NDA. [2] But then again, there could
always be another impetus...

[1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321193628
[2] http://www.faifzilla.org

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