

Does GPL hurt free software? - uggedal
http://www.250bpm.com/blog:7

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JohnTHaller
This blog post was obviously done without even a few minutes of research.
Developers have different and valid reasons for choosing BSD vs GPL/LGPL. BSD
lets the developer give up any and all control and lets everyone do whatever
they want with code/software. The GPL lets the developer share but enforce
that the code/software will remain Free/open. Lots of folks who develop in
their spare time like contributing but don't want someone taking their work
and closing it up, commercializing it and making money off of it without
contributing back to the overall community. There's a reason GPL/LGPL is the
most popular software license.

~~~
rumcajz
Yup. The "spite" motivation. The question is how strong an incentive spite is.
Things like money or fame are better in motivating people IMO.

~~~
gatlin
It's not about spite. It's about preserving the motivation to continue
developing free software. It's nice thinking that the fruits of my labor will
benefit everyone and that derivative efforts will as well.

The GPL gets an awful lot of flack from a community that owes it so much and I
truly don't understand why.

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JohnTHaller
Greed and selfishness play a role. Some folks like being able to take things
without having to give in return. And they get frustrated when they find an
awesome library that does what they want but they can't use it in their
paid/closed product because it is GPLed. And there isn't an equivalent BSD/MIT
licensed library. There are equivalent commercial libraries, but they cost
money. So the dev winds up complaining about the GPL.

~~~
gatlin
While I suspected as much, I figure it's worth asking in case there is a
nobler reason that I'm simply unaware of. I don't want to presume too much.

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willvarfar
This is more thinking out loud - stumbling out loud - than a definitive
understanding.

The blogger should blog again when the confusion has cleared.

