Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Open Source Code And War

Posted by timothy on from the four-star-specific dept.

"Should Open Source developers help the U.S. prepare for war with Iraq?" Roblimo has a piece on NewsForge which addresses that question by showing a specific way that the U.S. military is using Free and Open Source software (in simulator-based training for Blackhawk helicopters), and letting one of the developers involved speak for himself. If software is Free, doesn't that already answer the question of who can use it?

2 of 861 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not with my source codes! by dondelelcaro · · Score: 5, Informative
    Presumably you could grab the text of the GPL, rename it the "NOWAR-GPL" and throw in some text about not allowing military purposes.
    No. That would specifically violate the copyright on the GPL, which specifically states that you can copy and distribute verbatim copies, but modifications are not allowed
    GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

    Version 2, June 1991

    Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA

    Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
    of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
    Furthermore, software under such a license would cease to be Free Software, as it would restrict Freedom 0. Such a piece of software would also not be free under the DFSG either.
    --
    http://www.donarmstrong.com
  2. Re:Because if the US military... by Anonymous+Cowtard · · Score: 5, Informative
    Unilateral? My understanding of that is "go it alone". Lets look at the list of supporting countries of war against Iraq:

    1. Britain
    2. Australia
    3. Italy
    4. Spain
    5. Denmark
    6. Portugal
    7. Kuwait
    8. Qatar
    9. And more...


    Now, I know the use of "unilateral war" is a great rhetoric-filled way to drum up opposition for the action, but, well... it's a falsehood. Try again?