Well this thread no longer has much to do with WebMacro, but it is
good exposure for the GPL, GNU project, Free Software Foundation,
and so forth--WebMacro is under the GNU license.
Quoting Inderjeet Singh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
> Hi Justin,
>
> I have a (stupid) question:
>
> Once you release WebMacro under GPL, then how can you release it again
> under a (different) commercial license ? Wont you be prohibited to do so
> by the same GPL ?
>
> Sorry to sound harsh, but basically, how can you choose to make money
> off its derivations but prevent others from doing so ?
>
> Just curious,
> thanks
> inder
As the author and original copyright holder, I don't need a license to
use or distribute or license my own work. I can grant other people
rights to use it as often and in as many different ways as I like,
it's my property.
I could have released it as a proprietary project, or sold it, or
whatever. Instead I chose to make it freely available for most
purposes under the GPL.
I might ask, since you work for Sun, similar questions about
the Sun Community Source License.
If others want to profit from my work, many can do so thanks to
the GPL--create commercial sites, corporate sites, etc.; and the
free software community can, for free, use my work to build more
free tools and products.
If someone wants to profit from my hard work by making and selling
software _without_ making it freely available, I don't prevent
that either. However, that use of my work isn't free. I don't
charge much, but I do charge something. I'd prefer you built
free tools--and collect a tax of sorts from those who won't:
money which pays for the development of free software.
You make it sound like I have done something almost sinister
by licensing my own work to people for free.
If I were trying to profit off someone else's hard work, and
preventing others from doing so, that would be different. In fact,
that is exactly what the GPL forbids: That would be just like
someone trying to profit off proprietary derivatives of my
work while preventing others from doing so.
By the way--I don't mind all these questions. Make them as tough
as you like--many people here may not be familiar with the GNU
project, and I suspect this whole thread is shining some well
deserved light on it.
Anyone who has ever benefitted from GCC, Linux, EMACS, the GNU
debugger, the bash shell, etc., should follow this link and learn
the history of hose tools, and the GNU General Public License
which covers them as well as WebMacro:
Free Software Foundation: http://www.fsf.org
Justin
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