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Explaining Open Source Software

scubacuda writes "Mark Webbink, Red Hat's general counsel, has written an informative article explaining free and open source software. Geared towards attorneys, he explains the various licenses and addresses several myths about OSS." One to bookmark.

121 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Lawyers by Thunderstruck · · Score: 2, Funny

    Lawyers on both sides! Thats how the world was meant to work!

    --
    Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
  2. Great overview! by linux_user_31337 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This article is exactly what I need to explain open source to my dad, a lawyer. It's especially difficult getting the concepts behind open source across to him now that I'm writing open source code (BSD license, no less) for a *living*.

    Thanks again, Groklaw. It's so wonderful having some lawyers on *our* side!

  3. Difficult for lawyers to grasp.. by irokitt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lawyer: You mean you *want* it to be free?

    --
    If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    1. Re:Difficult for lawyers to grasp.. by midgley · · Score: 1
      I had a similar exchange with a lawyer in our Office of Government Commerce.

      In the two years since though they have made noticeable progress.

      So yes, it really was difficult for lawyers (and editors and accountants and parliamentarians and others) to grasp, and partly this was becuase of the effort to keep it obscure by the PR of the closed source suppliers.

      THe latter continues, and needs to be countered on an individual basis with each journalist one meets or gets to know. Carefully.

  4. One possible explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    On the subject of using volunteers versus paid programmers:

    "Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic."

    1. Re:One possible explanation by Saint+Stephen · · Score: 1

      Yeah, except one is a myth and a made up story that never really happened, and the other is something that actually happened and they learned from their mistakes and went on to further successes.

    2. Re:One possible explanation by jasonfncsu · · Score: 1

      Yeah... Those darn Titanic myths!

      --
      Jason Faulkner
      Old Os Administrator
      jason@oldos.org
      oldos.
  5. Eh? by Film11 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I really don't see whats so hard to understand about OSS. It's free and its meant to be distributed and you can edit it, but you've got to give credit to whoever made the orginial version. It's that simple. Well probably NOT that simple, I'm no OSS guru, but I think it's like that...

    --
    ):
    1. Re:Eh? by October_30th · · Score: 1
      I really don't see whats so hard to understand about OSS.

      Here's the hard part in a short: if you give your product away for free, where's the profit?

      --
      The owls are not what they seem
    2. Re:Eh? by Film11 · · Score: 3, Informative

      I see your point, but free stuff makes people like the product, unless the said product is crap, in which case he will know this and just give up. However, if the product is good and useful, people will donate. Its a fact of life, you see it everywhere like here and here. Both those sites give something for nothing, and they manage to make a living perfectly well.

      --
      ):
    3. Re:Eh? by cubicledrone · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Water is free.

      Water is a $5 billion industry.

      Seems simple enough.

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    4. Re:Eh? by morgue-ann · · Score: 2, Informative

      The trickiest part of GPL-like OSS licenses to me is figuring out where the line on "derivative works" ends.

      This is really a problem of copyright law in general and companies that collaborate (source only open to the parties involved) can get into trouble deciding who owns the resultant work, but most closed-source licenses are pretty simple: I can distribute object form only of the Metaware libraries, I can do anything with the input or output of their compiler (my code) and my work which uses their libraries is not considered a derived work (even though they're statically linked).

      Linus has clarified where he stands on userland use of the kernel, but lately has made some odd statements about kernel modules distributed in binary form. There's also issues with libraries distributed as GPL instead of LGPL (e.g. the MAD mp3 decoder). If MAD is dynamically linked to my app, but both are contained in a ROM and the "dynamic" loader uses the simplified BFLT format, is my app still independent & not derived (so I can release source to MAD but not my app)? Does statically linking my app mean I must release its source???

    5. Re:Eh? by Perky_Goth · · Score: 1

      support, costumization.
      you know, the big money makers already...

    6. Re:Eh? by stwrtpj · · Score: 1
      Water is free.

      You don't live in Colorado and its maze of twisty little water rights regulations, do you? :)

      --
      Karma: Frotzed (mostly due to the Frobozz Magic Karma Company)
    7. Re:Eh? by cubicledrone · · Score: 1

      Where are you living?

      Earth. Been coming out of the sky for oh, 3.2 billion years or so.

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    8. Re:Eh? by cubicledrone · · Score: 1

      :) (clicked submit too fast)

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    9. Re:Eh? by Nucleon500 · · Score: 1

      And the short answer: selling support, dual licensing, bounties for features, or perhaps experience, fame, chrity, or a way to pass the time. And for the common case, companies using but not creating OSS - it saves money.

    10. Re:Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Poor analogy. Water is an industry because it requires purification. Purified water cannot be "copied" ad infinitum.

      Open Source, on the other hand, can be. A "purified" Open Source program not only can be copied, but under the guidelines of licenses like the GPL must be made copyable for free. After the purification of the product it may be distributed at will by anybody who gets their hands on it.

      A business model derived from profiting from an Open Source product is flawed. While the originating entity can sell the first copy that copy may be copied and distributed freely. The Open Source business model depends entirely on three things: donations (in the form of actual money or in the sale of tangable novelties like plush penguins), services (such as the sale of support or custom development to businesses) or hardware (such as a router or total solution server where the real product is something tangable that cannot be copied and the Open Source accompanyment is simply a nicety.)

      Anyone who claims that there is money to made selling Open Source software is daft. There is money to be made, but it lies elsewhere.

    11. Re:Eh? by cubicledrone · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Poor analogy. Water is an industry because it requires purification.

      Perfect analogy. Rainwater is about as pure as water gets. Water is an industry because it's more convenient to pay for water than it is to set up basins on the patio.

      Purified water cannot be "copied" ad infinitum.

      As a matter of fact, there is so much water available that "copying" it is a non-issue. In fact, it's a red herring.

      Anyone who claims that there is money to made selling Open Source software is daft.

      Red Hat's market cap closed at $3.17 billion on Friday, up 304% for the year.

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    12. Re:Eh? by welshsocialist · · Score: 1

      Water is free.

      That's really a stretch. In most places in the US, water is put into the hands of agencies who citzens pay for the privlege to use the water. The closest thing to "free" water is private wells. However, by the time you pay to dig the well and get the permits, the water might as well not be free.

      --
      Support the Chagossians
    13. Re:Eh? by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Pure water falls from the sky on a fairly regular basis.

    14. Re:Eh? by bubkus_jones · · Score: 2, Informative

      Who says you have to give it away for free?

      Not everything has to be free as in speech and beer, otherwise how would Red Hat/Suse/whoever be able to charge money for their Linux distributions (among all the completely free distro's out there) and not immediately fold?

      Customer support is a part of that, but so is offering the package in an easily installable, usable and maintainable set. Look at some of the really Newbie-Friendly distros (xandros and Lindows), both offer easy-to-use versions of Debian (available for $0) and can charge upwards of $100 American for it?

      Yeah, that's just for Linux, but still, there's nothing saying that Johnny FooBar _must_ give away his work for nothing, hoping that people will donate money to pay for his costs (or he has to work a day job to pay his bills). If he chooses to do so, that's up to him, but it's not a requirement of OSS.

    15. Re:Eh? by kien · · Score: 1
      Water is free.
      You don't live in Colorado and its maze of twisty little water rights regulations, do you? :)

      Y'all ever hear about what happens when you melt snow? Just stay away from the yellow stuff... :)

      --K.

      P.S. Just to prove I was kidding...I was pulling for Denver today. Congrats Colts fans.
      --
      Sig: Bad people happen. Try to avoid being one of them.
    16. Re:Eh? by sketerpot · · Score: 1

      Colorado gets a lot of water from melting snow. If you started getting water from their snow in any significant quantity, you can bet that, since you're depriving them of some of their water, the regulations people will be on you in a second. Yes, they'll even regulate the yellow snow.

    17. Re:Eh? by fozwinkel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      FSF claims, in their FAQ and the preamble to the LGPL, that any linking to a GPL library makes the whole program derived. However, they do not give reference to any statute or judicial interpretation that supports their statement. IMHO, linking does not necessarily make a derived work.

      I decided to distribute my library (tkgeomap.sourceforge.net) under the GPL with some trepidation. It is a library, and I worried that FSF's statements about linking would scare away proprietary developers, who have helped me in the past. Then I noticed the GPL does not contain the word "link" anywhere in the license (just do a search). In my view, if your program falls on its face without my library, then it's a derived work. If your program is still functional without my library, and my stuff just adds some optional features, then your program is independent. For example, if you have a big database program that occassionally spits out latitudes and longitudes, and you add link in my library to draw some maps with them (that's its job), but your database program works fine without maps, then the database program is independent, and exempt from my distribution requirements. I would still require you to GPL any modifications TO MY WORK needed to enable the link, if any, but the main program is all yours. I would objectively say that if you can load and unload my library during runtime, you are independent. If the linking is static or startup-dynamic, there will be gray areas.

      That's my opinion, which isn't backed up by statutes or precedents, either. All I can do is indicate circumstances under which I might make a complaint, which is how most legal boundaries are set, anyway. I hope open source does not become a bonanza for lawyers. Hopefully, developers who use other licenses and end up in the gray area will contact me, and if need be, I'll issue a license amendment to the effect of "Copyright holder of library A accepts that program B uses the library but is otherwise independent, and therefore exempt from the distribution terms of library A." Court is the last resort.

    18. Re:Eh? by rifter · · Score: 1

      How about telling this to RedHat? They're charging for open source software (AKA RHEL). Don't give me "There's always Fedora". That doesn't change the fact that they're charging for other people's work. And don't give me the "They're charging for support" line either. If they're charging for support then they can give away RHEL and sell service contracts. RedHat just did an end run around the GPL. If I were an OSS developer I would be mad as hell that someone is making money off of my software with compensating me.

      I don't like what Redhat did either, but you're the first person to claim they violated the GPL. If RedHat includes the changes they made with the distribution, then they are following the GPL. They do contribute their changes back to maintainers as well, though this is not required. They also hire some of these people. It is annoying that they have a mixed distribution with RHEL which means that you can't necessarily distribut it at will if you are a customer, but anyone who receives it can of course distribute the GPL'd bits without fear of molestation from RedHat. So it's all kosher with the GPL.

    19. Re:Eh? by morgue-ann · · Score: 1

      if your program falls on its face without my library, then it's a derived work

      That's not a very useful definition to me. While you might use it only for your program, it doesn't seem generally applicable. What application can run without an OS under it? What OS can run without driver to help it talk to hardware? What GUI app can run without widget/drawing libraries?

  6. More ways to prevent people from doing their job by Brahmastra · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Here's one of the guidelines from the article:
    1. Do not permit the uncontrolled importation of software onto company computers. Do not permit employees to download freeware, shareware, or Open Source software onto company computers without first clearing the license terms with the legal department. At the same time, bar the use of proprietary software except to the extent that the company can account for the permitted licenses. In other words, know what you are putting on your machines--to do otherwise exposes your company to risk.
    At least for me, this would severly hamper my ability to do work. For example, I sometimes use perl to parse through MAP files. So, if I wanted to download a FREE version of perl and run it, I have to go to some lawyer to explain why I want to use it? I can think of a hundred other reasons this would be a bloody pain, and result in a lot of bureaucratic hassle for engineers.
  7. Re:My Experience with the Linux by irokitt · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    VB can go just as low level as C
    As someone who has written in both languages, I can attest that the above statement is bullshit.
    --
    If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
  8. The SCO lawyer said... by getarun_vr · · Score: 1

    ...(with a greedy look) hmm, I see many IPR infringements. Makes hard to decide from where to start? (Echoes of a Devilish laugh fading out)

  9. Excellent article, but long... by bc90021 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...and I think that any CXO of a "mainstream" company would have his eyes glazed over by the "Fundamentals of Copyright Law" section.

    I suggest excerpting the article, to start with the "Myths of Open Source Section", as that looks short enough for most CXOs to handle, and then go with the rest if the CXO expresses further interest.

    1. Re:Excellent article, but long... by Ed+Avis · · Score: 1
      I don't really see the point in an article aimed towards lawyers. Lawyers with any training in copyright law are unlikely to misunderstand the various free software licences unless they are paid to do so.

      In any case the article has a major mistake:
      When we speak of Free Software, we are not talking about freeware, i.e., software that is essentially in the public domain. Rather, we are talking about software that is licensed under the precepts of the Free Software Foundation ("FSF") and its flagship GNU General Public License.

      This is a strange definition of several terms. Firstly, the FSF itself treats free software as a much wider range than GPL. The LGPL, BSD, X11, Qt, Netscape and other licences are all considered free software licences. I thought it was only Slashdot posters who misrepresented the FSF as standing for GPL-only.

      Secondly, software that is in the public domain (and remember this is aimed at lawyers, so take the legal meaning of public domain, for example the works of Shakespeare) is certainly free software if it has source code. You can do anything with the code including relicensing it under something like the GPL. But this is not the normal definition of 'freeware', which is usually taken to mean binary-only software that is copyrighted and may have a licence forbidding resale for profit.

      The other Groklaw article on 'GPL myths' was much better, and shorter.
      --
      -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
    2. Re:Excellent article, but long... by cubicledrone · · Score: 1

      Isn't it interesting that apparently nobody is capable of maintaining attention on anything longer than one paragraph or 30 seconds?

      There are some subjects that cannot be properly explained in an elevator pitch. People would be incredulous if they realized the gargantuan amounts of money that are spent on the basis of a 30 second presentation.

      Want to know why something sucks? It was probably designed with an elevator pitch. Oh, and middle management was probably involved too.

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    3. Re:Excellent article, but long... by spectre_240sx · · Score: 1

      Q: Hey, how many ADD kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

      A: Wanna go ride bikes?

  10. Re:My Experience with the Linux by cartzworth · · Score: 1

    Agreed. Let me throw in some assembly with my VB...

  11. And how this relates to our favorite /. topic... by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

    The article was targeting those people who actually believe The SCum Group when they say that the GPL is illegal. My impression was that the point was to settle the PHB's fear that Linux would get them into legal trouble. In that, I think the article succeeds admirably.

    But is this really "News for Nerds"? Most of us know about the GPL and BSD Liscenses at least. More like "News for Suits".

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  12. We need translation to and from legalese. by dexterpexter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It should be obligatory that any person involved in deciding this case should have to read a writeup such as this one. All too often those making the decisions are as tech savvy as dung beetles. It has been successfully argued in court that a certain hacker (in the misused sense of the term) could not have possibly been responsible for a breakin because the end IP was not the same as his home one and that "IP addresses are like DNA. Identifiers that cannot be changed." When we have the technologically unsavvy making rulings on technology issues, how can we expect any differently? If this SCO case is won, it will probably be on the backs of people who can't figure out how to attach files to their emails.

    This has been long-needed. We demand that legalese be put into "plain English," should we not expect attorneys to require the same?

    We need Open Source and related licenses explained for dummies (pehaps a book, anyone? Open Source For Dummies), for the those of us knee-deep in all of this who have a grasp of what is going on, and for the legal entities who will ultimately decide the case.

    This case will never be won so long as people believe that SCO can claim .h files, error number listings, and parts of the C standard library because "they look the same as that 'er Linus thingy code", and as long as people continue to equate open source royalty-free software with an attack on capitalism. Perhaps in addition to an Open Source for Dummies, the courts need a Basic Programming for Dummies as well.

    Yes, we need more articles like this one.

    --

    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
    "We are Linux. Resistance is measured in Ohms."
  13. An interesting battle being waged by grioghar · · Score: 1

    We're seeing a lot of details come out from each camp that makes more and more clarifications on the angles each (and by each, I mean SCO vs The World) is taking.

    I'm noticing a trend of regurgitated BS coming out of the SCO camp, but intelligent, well-thought arguments coming from the otherside of this battle.

    Makes me wonder why one little company would try to take on the world of opensource? The mindshare that SCO is fighting has to be exponentially larger than anything SCO has,

    --
    Can you ping me now? Gooood! | Manhappenin.Net - Things to do
  14. Re:My Experience with the Linux by jonathanduty · · Score: 1

    Don't believe in c programming??

    So you don't believe in years of embedded systems, systems programming, pretty much all routing protocols, and all operating systems other than windows (I have no idea what MS Windows is written in).

  15. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by jeffkjo1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Clearly we all recognize the hassles that result from having to clear software with a 'legal' department, however, I think we've seen enough BSA attacks on businesses to know that it's necessary.

  16. Re:My Experience with the Linux by jxs2151 · · Score: 1
    Hey, I've seen this post before....

    Yep-Here and here and here and here

    Ahh, go look for yourself:

    Here

  17. On The Other Hand by wiredog · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "Know what you are putting on your machines" is great advice for a sysadmin. In fact, Do not permit employees to download ... without first clearing the license terms with ... legal. ... bar the use of proprietary software except to the extent that the company can account for the permitted licenses comes under the heading of "best practices" for a sysadmin.

    And remember, once the GPL, MPL, Artistic License, etc, have been cleared through legal, anything under those licenses is no longer barred from downloading.

    1. Re:On The Other Hand by Homology · · Score: 1
      And remember, once the GPL, MPL, Artistic License, etc, have been cleared through legal, anything under those licenses is no longer barred from downloading.

      Yep, viruses/worms think they are already cleared due to their premissive distribution license and saves you the bother of downloading/distributing it yourself.

    2. Re:On The Other Hand by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "anything under those licenses is no longer barred from downloading."

      By the SYSADMIN of course, NOT the users. Users should never be installing software in a work environment.

    3. Re:On The Other Hand by shaitand · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm an admin in one as a matter of fact. There are only two job roles that I can think of that require the ability to install software. Sysadmin and developer.

      Most companies don't have developers for starters. And although developers need to install software, they DON'T need to install it on the corporate network. You give you them a few computers, a switch, a hub, and 2pc's worth of spare parts, and an annual budget of about $100 for it. If they break it and can't fix it, it's their own problem.

      After all, it's certainly that way for the sysadmin's own test network.

    4. Re:On The Other Hand by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      OK. Well at least you admit that developer need to be able to install software and have test networks. That's more than a lot of system admins will admit. However, I think an annual budget of $100 for software for a developer is way, way, way too skimpy. One seat of Pure Coverage/Purify (from Rational) would blow my budget for a decade.

      I'd better not ask for a copy of Resourcer, or a non-free bug tracking tool, or Visual Studio.

      I'm a software developer at a big company with a bunch of idiotic sys admins. It is hell. (We keep talking about quitting.) I came here from a software startup where their bull shit wouldn't have flown for 2 seconds.

      How do you keep development/test work off the corporate network when the corporate network and the development work both have to be wireless, and senior management has decreed that we have to be in the same building? (And IT claims being on a different BSSID is not good enough.)

      Then these idiots come tell me I can't have a Mac in the building (cause years ago they "standardized" on Windows and the real reason they don't want me to have a Mac is that everyone else will want one too). A major part of my job is to write Mac software.

      When people are that stupid, you just have to flip the bozo bit and ignore them.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    5. Re:On The Other Hand by shaitand · · Score: 1

      I could on for hours on this subject. But I agree with you, considerations have to be made for what your working with.

      I don't think they have to made for your whims and preferences. "I prefer tool x, even though the shop and other programmers use tool y", that's the kind of thing that doesn't need to fly.

      As for the $100, that's for the test network, not your development software. Anything special you need there shouldn't come out of my budget at all, it should come out of the budget for your project, standard already approved development tools should have been on the pc before you were even hired. Your personal preferred tools are your personal problem and don't need to be on the network of course. You do NOT need to try out this or that development tool at work, you can do it on the test network or at home on your own time.

      But that said, if you develop Mac software, damnit you should have a Mac to develop it on. I might lock it down with an iron fist, or not allow it on the corporate network since you will of course be loading software on it I haven't approved and we can't have a security hole.

  18. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by rlowe69 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually the quote says "...without first clearing the license terms with the legal department."

    So for example, don't let your employees use GPL software until you understand what the GPL is. Fair enough. After you approve the GPL license terms, people are free to use GPL software.

    Did you interpret this to mean that you would need approval for each piece of open source software? Because yes, that would be a huge pain! I don't think that is what the guideline meant. Getting an open source license approved once isn't a big deal.

    --
    ----- rL
  19. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by cubicledrone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    a lot of bureaucratic hassle for engineers.

    This is the entirety of justficiation for the existence of most "corporate" "departments." It's also a very efficient way to ensure universal mediocrity.

    --
    Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
  20. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by Fnkmaster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, that is definitely idiotic big-company-think. I think a manager should be responsible for informally overseeing or okaying use of random new tools. Using a tool is very different from incorporating source code, copy-and-pasting material, and doing something that creates a potential legal issue. As a manager, if somebody says they need Winzip, emacs, bash or whatever to feel comfortable and get work done, then more power to them. It should be made completely clear to them that they can't download source code or software from any source on the internet for use as a part of a product, runtime component or anything like that without approval from a manager and legal. Beyond that, there's nothing you can do but trust your employees, make the potential consequences really clear, and conduct regular code reviews to spot anything potentially suspect (primarily just to spot shitty, lazy code, but if somebody really cut and pasted a bunch of code, it would probably be obvious if you knew their coding style, your company's coding standards, and so on).

  21. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It is a bureaucratic hassle, but it is a necessary one. Let's look it in a slightly different way: the lawyer has to support and defend the company's software use in court. This is basically a sysadmin type job: the network sysadmin defends the company's network from technical threats, and insures the smooth running of the network. To do this he needs to know what software is in use. The company's lawyer needs to defend the company from legal threats and insure the smooth handling of legal matters. To do this he needs to know what legal agreements the company is a part of.

    Now, Perl should be a perfunctory check: can we use GPL software for development purposes? Yes, but make sure you don't use the code. Simple. Just like the IT department will want to know you are using a programming package, and have agreed to not write a virus to destroy the network. Why? Because they will get the calls when it breaks something, and they need the info to effectively do their job.

    Help the lawyer do their job. It is as necessary in today's world as yours. Hampering them will just make them angry, and likely to want to retaliate by hampering you.

    --
    'Sensible' is a curse word.
  22. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by mafelixs · · Score: 1

    It's the same thing where I work. Currently, all engineers are allowed to install whatever programs they want without consulting with anyone, but the management is considering a change to this. Personally, I think it should be as it is; we should be able to assume that professional software engineers know how the licensing works. However, the greatest concern is not that people might listen to pirated mp3s, but that someone by mistake would use GPL'd stuff in the release code. As the company makes proprietary software, this could be Very Bad, so I understand their concern. But I still think companies should trust the common sense of their developers.

  23. Re:My Experience with the Linux by Scrameustache · · Score: 2, Funny

    (I have no idea what MS Windows is written in)

    Windows is written in the lowest pits of hell!

    ; )

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  24. Not News by An+Anonymous+Hero · · Score: 1, Informative

    This article was originally published in the March 2003 Journal of the New South Wales Society for Computers and the Law

    *sigh*

    1. Re:Not News by Soko · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Lighten up - This is the first I've heard of this article (Okay, I saw it last week on Groklaw too) and it's extremely relevant to the issues facing OSS in the coprorate world, especially with S.C.U.M. lurking about. (That's SCO Corporation's Underhanded Management, BTW). Putting this on the Slashdot front page makes sure that "many eyes" we talk about so often have actually seen it. Getting the word out about good, relevant, useful tools (well, once in a while) is one of the reasons I still come here.

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
  25. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by Cytlid · · Score: 1

    I always evaluate licenses before I download things at work. I have a linux box where just about everything is GPL, and on my (xp) laptop, I can run Belarc Advisor to see what I have installed. This keeps me and my company out of hot water. I'm probably more laxed at home. In fact, only thing I can think of on my work machine that is commercial that wasn't given to me by work, is X-Win32, which I purchased a license for ...

    --
    FLR
  26. Simple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Open Source == Communism. What is there to explain?

    Say what you will about Communism itself, but what it failed to do for Soviet Russia, it has succeeded in doing for the Open Source movement.

    Free is good.

    1. Re:Simple by zcat_NZ · · Score: 1

      Open Source == Communisim

      The same way that "..of the people, by the people, for the people" == communisim?

      --
      455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
    2. Re:Simple by fozwinkel · · Score: 1

      My software is my property. I use the GPL to assert my legal rights over it. How does that make me a communist?

    3. Re:Simple by flink · · Score: 1

      In the sense that the workers control the means of production?

  27. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by cubicledrone · · Score: 1

    Now, Perl should be a perfunctory check: can we use GPL software for development purposes? Yes, but make sure you don't use the code. Simple.

    Which is precisely why it would never happen in the standard five-foot-wide-ass bureaucracy. Anyone who must have "knowledge" of something must also have "approval" authority, and therefore nothing will ever be accomplished.

    When the ratio of the mass of an organization to its IQ reaches a certain value, the organization stops moving. Period. It's as certain as the laws of thermodynamics. In fact it should BE a law of thermodynamics.

    --
    Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
  28. Non-technical explanation? by heironymouscoward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about an explanation that works for suits?

    Something like this:

    - Open source and free software is like disk space. You used to pay $1000 for 1GB, today you get 1Gb for $1.

    - This is possible because the Internet has made communications so cheap that the traditional huge costs of making software - design, management and infrastructure - have been largely eliminated.

    - "Closed software" businesses like Microsoft would very much like you to continue paying 1970's prices for software.

    - But the fact is that your competitors are benefiting from high-quality free packages like OpenOffice, Apache, PHP, Linux, and MySQL.

    - You should really be switching your IT budgets from paying for software licenses to paying for support and custom development: this is the best way to keep an edge in the market.

    Every dollar spent on buying overblown commercial software that has a free equivalent is a dollar wasted. Are you sure you want to waste your money?

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
    1. Re:Non-technical explanation? by Doppler00 · · Score: 1

      From what I remember, MySQL isn't GPL'd and requires a commercial license.

    2. Re:Non-technical explanation? by teg · · Score: 2, Informative


      From what I remember, MySQL isn't GPL'd and requires a commercial license.



      You can get it with a GPL license, or pay for another one.

  29. Typical lawyer misdirection ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic."

    Mild humor value aside ...

    How many icebergs did the Ark bounce off of? And if we are accepting the Ark and Flood we have to also accept that God was piloting the Ark, have to take the entire story or none at all , and piloting was the problem with Titanic not construction. That is we are being fair and objective.

    Personally if the pro Open Source lawyer is making statements like the above the document's credibility comes into question. Where there is one piece of spin and misdirection there may be more. I would prefer a objective unbiased legal analysis. The author should hold the jokes for the conference presentations.

    1. Re:Typical lawyer misdirection ... by JordanH · · Score: 5, Funny
      • How many icebergs did the Ark bounce off of?
      The Ark survived at least as many iceberg strikes as the Titanic.
    2. Re:Typical lawyer misdirection ... by pritchma · · Score: 1

      If more Slashdot readers read the article they wouldn't believe the author made the statement about the Titanic ;-)

    3. Re:Typical lawyer misdirection ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1

      Actually I did read the article, which is why I wrote "if the pro Open Source lawyer is making statements like the above the document's credibility comes into question". This one article is probably not the only thing he has written. If he had shown bias elsewhere this article should be viewed with some suspicion.

  30. beauty of the GPL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But which is riskier, licensing practices that are constantly being challenged or those that, in their simplicity and effectiveness, have avoided challenge.

    This is why the GPL, BSD, etc licenses are so wonderful. They are aligned with the user's needs. It's really tough to violate them as an end-user. You just download the software, use it, and you never even have to *accept* the license at all!

    Just like anything else in life.. you buy a car, the car company doesn't really care what you do with it. Now, if you take it apart, learn how it works, and start selling copies for half price, they might want to chat with you.. but only a very small percentage of car drivers would do that. Even the ones that do work on their cars do it for their own personal enjoyment. Same with the GPL.. hack as much as you want, just keep your eye on the terms when you start re-distributing.

    Once legal departments start to figure this out, free software will make bigger and bigger inroads. "Wait, you mean with FreeBSD we never have to worry about being targeted by the BSA? Whoa.. *mind blown*".

    1. Re:beauty of the GPL by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Unless the legal advise isn't on salary. If they are on salary they dont want you targetted by the BSA because then they would have to work.

      If they aren't and are a third party then they WANT you targetted by the BSA because that's how they get paid.

  31. That statement was not from the lawyer by Tim+Macinta · · Score: 3, Informative
    Personally if the pro Open Source lawyer is making statements like the above the document's credibility comes into question.
    The lawyer didn't make that statement. The closest he comes to addressing the quality of volunteer versus professional work is where he lists specific examples to dispel the myth that Open Source does not produce innovation. The boat analogy was not related to the paper, the AC was just making a joke - the paper is actually very well reasoned.
  32. Please: NO!!! by elf-fire · · Score: 1

    This may lead to proper understanding of GPL, BSD and other licenses... Slashdot replies may never be the same again ;)

    1. Re:Please: NO!!! by JonMartin · · Score: 3, Insightful
      This may lead to proper understanding of GPL, BSD and other licenses... Slashdot replies may never be the same again ;)

      I wish. Unfortunately the lawyer resorts to the same GPL FUD I see all the time:

      Open source licenses may be broadly categorized into the following types: (1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (we will call these Non-Protective Licenses because they do not protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications); and (2) those that do apply such restrictions (we will call these Protective Licenses because they ensure that the code will always remain open/free).
      BZZZT, wrong Lawyer-man. Pointing out that "Protective Licenses ... ensure that the code will always remain open/free" gives the misleading impression that "Non-Protective Licenses" do not. Keeping the code open is not an ongoing function of the license but the community. If I release some code under the BSD license it will always be open as long as someone is willing and able to redistribute it. No one (not even me) can "close" it as long as there is a copy of it available out there. The birth of OpenSSH is a perfect example of this.

      So if "Protective" licenses offer no additional protection for my code than "Non-Protective" licenses, the question is what is the difference and why is Lawyer-man lying about it?

      I know the answer, do you?

      --
      Serve Gonk.
    2. Re:Please: NO!!! by drquizas · · Score: 2, Informative

      It seems to me as though he is referring to derivative works when he says "code" in the last sentence of the quote. I do not profess to have a complete understanding of these licensing issues, but with what I do know it seems as though the quote is fundamentally accurate if this interpretation is used.

    3. Re:Please: NO!!! by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "Open source licenses may be broadly categorized into the following types: (1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (we will call these Non-Protective Licenses because they do not protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications); and (2) those that do apply such restrictions (we will call these Protective Licenses because they ensure that the code will always remain open/free)."

      This statement is easily amended to be 100% accurate.

      "Open source licenses may be broadly categorized into the following types: (1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (we will call these Non-Protective Licenses because they do not protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications); and (2) those that do apply such restrictions (we will call these Protective Licenses because they do protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications)."

      The GPL is for the benefit of the developer and the end users at large. BSD and the GPL both protect the first release of the software and ensure they are open. BSD stops with the first release, the GPL does not, the GPL ensures that derivatives are open as well.

      To a business wanting to take derivative works and close them up, thus getting free slave labor (or the fruits of it anyway) instead of properly paying for the software with their own derivative code, there doesn't seem to be any benefit to the GPL. That's sort of the point.

    4. Re:Please: NO!!! by JonMartin · · Score: 1
      This statement is easily amended to be 100% accurate.
      "Open source licenses may be broadly categorized into the following types: (1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (we will call these Non-Protective Licenses because they do not protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications); and (2) those that do apply such restrictions (we will call these Protective Licenses because they do protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications)."

      Close. All occurences of the string "protect" should be replaced with "restrict". Let's call a spade a spade and stop hiding behind the warm fuzzy "protect". The difference between the licenses is restrictions. One restricts certain uses and the other doesn't.

      Why can't people be honest about this?

      --
      Serve Gonk.
    5. Re:Please: NO!!! by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Actually one restricts in another manner than the other. One requires acknowledgements. One requires open code in turn.

      Whether you term it restrict or protect is really a glass half full or glass half empty.

      Basically it's a matter of whether or not your a programmer. If your not a programmer (or a company who produces programs or has the ability to hire programmers) it makes no difference whatsoever. If you are a programmer (or company who produces program or has the ability to hire programmers) then it depends on whether or not you simply want a free lunch from open source so you can profit from the blood and sweat of others at no expense to yourself. The "restriction" you speak of is a benefit to absolutely EVERY other party since it means all of the benefits of open source will still apply to something which is based on open source code.

      Now, if your a closed source company simply wanting the fruits of free slave labor. Then you call it a restriction rather than a protection.

      Open source code after all isn't primarily about getting something for nothing, it's about being able to modify and improve something having your work be part of a greater whole. It's about knowing that when it comes down to it you don't have to rely on anyone else because you have the code and can make the changes you need be it features, bug fixes, behavior in this lil window here, etc. Even a non-programmer can hire a programmer to do these things. A 30 pc business can hire a coder to add a completely new file format to openoffice for less than it would code to purchase licenses of MS office for those 30 pc's ONCE let alone every couple years.

  33. You missed the point ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 3, Informative

    You missed the point, there are two problems. One is source code, the second is unlicensed software. Having an unlicensed copy of a piece of software can be a huge legal issue. Not having a policy where software have to be approved in some formal way only makes the legal issue worse. "Big company think" is not universally wrong, occasionally they do the right thing. Whether the rare right choice being made was accidental or not I leave to a different discussion.

    1. Re:You missed the point ... by Fnkmaster · · Score: 3, Interesting
      And you need to talk to the legal department to figure out if you've properly purchased a copy of WinZip for your developers? Or whether emacs needs to be purchased before it's used? If issues that trivial can't be solved by a 10 second conversation between a developer and their manager, then your company is broken. Don't expect to be putting out product any time soon.


      There are certainly issues that do require discussion with a lawyer and conference with a legal department or outside counsel. If you plan on incorporating or using a piece of Open Source software as part of a product for customer delivery, your plan should definitely be vetted by legal, or if you are going to use a commercial enterprise software product with complicated license terms (think: Oracle, at least the way they used to do RDBMS licenses - they would sometimes lead small companies in to using their software than come back later and tell them they had misinterpreted their licensing terms and hit them with a $100k bill).


      So yes, unlicensed or improperly licensed software can be a problem in certain circumstances, but generally buying or using a general piece of software, open source or commercial, like a text editor, IDE, or other general purpose desktop tool should not require intervention of a legal department. I didn't say there shouldn't be an approval process to buy such things with company dollars, just that the approval process shouldn't require the legal department's intervention.

    2. Re:You missed the point ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1

      And you need to talk to the legal department to figure out if you've properly purchased a copy of WinZip for your developers?

      Nope. That would already be on the list of approved products whose licences have been reviewed by legal. Also part of a standard set of development tools installed onto a developers system by IT. The IT department tracks the site/corporate license and increase the license as needed.

      Or whether emacs needs to be purchased before it's used?

      Nope. Part of a pre-approved Linux and BSD distributions that IT can install on a developer's system. On the Windows side I don't think anyone has asked for it. Cygwin and ActiveState Perl are pre-approved.

      I didn't say there shouldn't be an approval process to buy such things with company dollars, just that the approval process shouldn't require the legal department's intervention.

      Actually, I believe the legal department should read every product's license. Which is pretty much how things get on our pre-approved list.

    3. Re:You missed the point ... by DavidTC · · Score: 1
      Actually, I believe the legal department should read every product's license.

      Except that open source software has no end user license in the first place, so there is no license to read.

      The article urging lawyers to look it over is crazy, as it doesn't exist. The licenses with open source software are distribution licenses, they explicitly say you do not have to agree to them to use the software.

      It really blows my mind that in some companies people think, and lawyers aren't saying they are idiots, that open software is more of a 'risk' installing than legally purchased closed source software...when the latter has licensing terms for use that almost no one has read, and the first has no terms for use.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
    4. Re:You missed the point ... by Fnkmaster · · Score: 1
      No, I've run 20 person development teams before. I realize that people like the ones you describe exist. And your goal as a manager should be to fire them as soon as possible (well, except for the last one - it's not really such a big deal if somebody borrows a copy of an MSDN CD to play with at home for personal use - I wouldn't want somebody doing it openly and I wouldn't want to KNOW about it, but that would not be a termination-worthy offense). You don't want developers working for you who don't understand basic principles of copyright law, for example that if you didn't write the code, it's not yours and you can't claim it and throw it into your product. People like that are a liability for any company.


      Most programmers don't seem to understand basic principles of multithreading either. That doesn't make it acceptable for a software development professional to lack basic knowledge critical to their field.


      And I never said it should be the responsbility of every developer to handle all licensing issues, I said that their manager should take responsibility, and not punt every issue to a lawyer. If you don't know enough about software to understand how to buy licenses for Winzip for your developers, you should not be managing a development team, full stop.

    5. Re:You missed the point ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1

      The article urging lawyers to look it over is crazy, as it doesn't exist. The licenses with open source software are distribution licenses, they explicitly say you do not have to agree to them to use the software.

      How do you know what they say until they are read. Some zealot could have slipped something weird into a license, "not to be used by military contractors" for example. I've seen idiots suggest such nonsense on several different occasions around here. Someone at the company has to read it, why not the staff lawyer? That's his/her job, I'm paid to write working software and I have more faith in our lawyer's interpretation of the license than myself or one of my fellow code monkeys. Another way to look at it, if you have a staff lawyer it's a good resource, why ignore it?

    6. Re:You missed the point ... by WNight · · Score: 1

      Why bother reading licenses? They're irrelevant. You bought it, you own it, you can use it. Remember, with software you *own* everything but the copyright. You can do anything you wish with your software, short of copying it. An EULA that attempts to restrict your actions is an invalid after-sale restriction. Similar to being sold a car and then being told you need to buy proprietary tires or they'll reposess your car.

      Pre-sale contracts or licenses, the distinction is very blurry, are different. You know the full story before you go in and are expected to abide by your agreement. Legal definately must be involved with the purchase of a site-license or something.

    7. Re:You missed the point ... by rifter · · Score: 1

      > You don't want developers working for you who don't understand basic principles of copyright law

      Well, it's an arguable point, but I have enough trouble hiring good people to bother with quizzing them about copyright law, even in this market. As long as the leads know where everything is coming from, it's usually not a huge problem, and I certainly understand the "Programmer's Privilege" mentality wrt paying for software. Furthermore, my guess is that most of the slashdotters debating finer points of licencing can't code worth crap.

      The point is that you don't want plagiarizers in your company. Generally this is something you learn not to do in school, but if you don't and your company gets caught you lose your company. Missing something so basic as not ganking code off the net at random and using it shoudl certainly be a firable offense.

    8. Re:You missed the point ... by DavidTC · · Score: 1
      A license that says that military contractors can't use it is not an open source license.

      In fact, any license that restricts use, and hence requires you to agree to beforehand, is not an open source license.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
  34. You exaggerate the hassle ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1

    At least for me, this would severly hamper my ability to do work. For example, I sometimes use perl to parse through MAP files. So, if I wanted to download a FREE version of perl and run it, I have to go to some lawyer to explain why I want to use it?

    You exaggerate the hampering. Getting a set of development tools approved is a one time event and should already be in place. I've gotten legal approval for an open source library in a day. I think our lawyer could handle ActiveState Perl for Windows even faster. That is assuming the absense of a pre-approved list of development tools and assuming project managers have not been given the authority to approve such development tools.

  35. 1970s prices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Closed software" businesses like Microsoft would very much like you to continue paying 1970's prices for software.

    Gibberish.

    1970s prices means that if you want a database engine you rent if from IBM at $40,000 per month, plus the cost of the two system programmers you need to keep the JCL running.

    Microsoft prices mean that you get two database engines free with your word processor, and you don't have to pay again next month.

    Some people here do have short memories.

  36. It didn't answer any important questions by Rolf+Tollerud · · Score: 1

    1) If the LGPL allows you to call libraries but not GPL why doesn't all that runs on Linux has to be GPL? 2)"GPL licenses retain their copyright". What happens if A (that has all the copyrights) publishes under GPL. B makes a derivative work and also publishes under GPL. After 1 000 000 copies is out A changes their license to a commercial license one?

  37. Re:This is sad ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "How can he put Linux as an example of GNU software!? which is under the GPL license just for histerical reasons, and is not part of the GNU Project!."

    I think you mean hysterical.
    Calm down. The GPL is a GNU project licence, i.e. it was created as part of the GNU project. So the Linux kernel uses a GNU licence. That is all...

  38. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by shaitand · · Score: 1

    ok you get perl cleared, the sysadmin installs it on your machine (as a user in a business environment you of course should not be installing software).

    At this point you have perl, so the sysadmin leaves it on your machine (Because of course, you shouldn't be uninstalling software either as a user, this should be a moot point since the sysadmin should have made doing this impossible for you).

  39. Re:Being bound to the GPL license by shaitand · · Score: 1

    Your a commercial nazi who simply wants my sweat to equate to not just free labor, but instant free labor where the result is already finished eh?

    Tough shit, it doesn't work that way, any who distributes under the gpl isn't giving you something for nothing unless your an end user. They are giving you something for something. I don't want money, I want source code. Deal with it.

  40. Sorry, it's your misinterpretation. by Kjella · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "(1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (...) and (2) those that do (...) ensure that the code will always remain open/free)."

    He's talking about derivative works. And derivative works of BSD code can be neither open nor free. This is the core difference between the BSD and GPL "class" of licences, and I find the classification good and the statement accurate.

    Like it or not, this is very very important to corporations. You might not care that someone else is profiting (as in $$$) off your work, that your code doesn't "disappear" through use, but companies do. They're all about making profit for them, not for anyone else. If someone else is going to make money off it, they want their cut.

    Alternately, they'd like to get compensated in another way - in form of the modifications others have made. The GPL licence is giving them a reason to release the code, the BSD licence does not. With the BSD licence, you're not guaranteed to get anything back - anything at all.

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    1. Re:Sorry, it's your misinterpretation. by JonMartin · · Score: 1
      "(1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (...) and (2) those that do (...) ensure that the code will always remain open/free)."
      He's talking about derivative works.

      I know. I just find the statement "the code will always remain open/free" vague and misleading. I'll explain further with help from the rest of your reply.

      Alternately, they'd like to get compensated in another way - in form of the modifications others have made. The GPL licence is giving them a reason to release the code, the BSD licence does not. With the BSD licence, you're not guaranteed to get anything back - anything at all.

      So what you are saying is that the GPL has nothing to do with keeping the code "open and free" and everything to do with compensation. Fundamentally what you are saying is "Use my code, it's free! But I want something from you in return..." That's not free.

      --
      Serve Gonk.
  41. Legal basis of a copyright license? by daveking · · Score: 1

    Good article, except for one missing bit. The author didn't explain of the legal basis of copyright licenses. I hear or read the term "license" so often I'd expect everyone to know the definition, but I doubt they do. I don't know it any more precisely than "formal permission".

    Is "license" just the conventional name for any contract where a copyright holder promises not to sue for infringement as long as specific rules are followed? Or is "license" the formal name of a specific legal structure actually defined by copyright law?

    It seems the former is true. In any case, the audience needs the legal definition of the term "license" in order to be sure that they're actually reading one, what basis it has in law, and whether it will provide sufficient protection against claims of copyright infringement.

    --
    ------DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS LINE------
  42. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by Brahmastra · · Score: 1

    You want a sys admin to download grep from the internet and save it on your harddrive so that you can use it? You want a sys-admin to download the emacs executable and install it for every developer who would like to use emacs? And I thought our IT department was a bunch of fascists

  43. Re:My Experience with the Linux by MoronGames · · Score: 1

    Windows (NT at least, not sure about 9x) is written in C.

    --
    hey!
  44. Re:This is sad ... by shaitand · · Score: 1

    I see nothing in that quote that mentions GNU at all? Nor anything that should.

    The proper term for a generic distribution with the linux kernel at it's core is *gasp* Linux. Whether that distribution happens to include GNU application software or not (there is no reason it does, there are a number of utils that replace them, including the BSD versions) is really rather irrelevant. The operating system (ie the kernel in the case of a macro kernel system) is linux. So a distribution of applications along with the operating system (or kernel) is reasonably referred to in a generic sense as linux? What is the problem?

  45. Re:It didn't answer any important questions by shaitand · · Score: 2, Informative

    This has happened before. What happens is that the GPL'd copies are still GPL'd and therefore not in violation of any license. Once you distribute something under the GPL, it is GPL'd period.

    There is nothing which stops you from no longer providing licenses under the GPL (in which your case your development from that point for wouldn't be open to all), nor is there anything preventing someone else from taking what you had released up to that point and forking it, providing updates to it as well since the GPL license you distributed to them continues. The GPL can't be revoked short of a violation of it's terms.

  46. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by shaitand · · Score: 1

    Yes the sys admin downloads the software, tests it to ensure stability and then adds it to his system image. Then sends his army of monkey's out to install it on your workstations.

    It's not like you'll really need more than one or two tools that aren't already provided and it's not like those will ever have to be installed again.

    If this actually results in a significant amount of time on an ongoing basis then obviously it's more productive for you to use the tools you have than to save 2 seconds by using a different one. Using one you "prefer" but that doesn't actually save time is a waste of course.

  47. Re:It didn't answer any important questions by jimicus · · Score: 1

    It doesn't need to. The GPL only covers "derivative works", and Linus has specifically said that he doesn't consider code intended to run in Linux a "derivative work".

  48. Re:This is sad ... by MobyTurbo · · Score: 2, Informative
    And, even worse!, he uses the word "Linux Distribution" to refer to the wole GNU Project!, and even worse, an specific anti-freesoftware distro, deadrat!
    What's so "anti-freesoftware" about Red Hat? Their distribution is entirely GPL, including their installer, hardware detection, and every other part of it excepting their trademark logo. Progeny, definitely a GNU/Linux company, has borrowed Red Hat's installer, Anaconda, as an installer for Debian. This would not be possible if it wasn't for a real commitment on the part of Red Hat for the GPL.
  49. how I explain OSS to people by timek · · Score: 1

    In my very limited experience, the problem people have with OSS is that they don't understand how anyone could possibly hope to make any money from it.

    That is easy enough to explain:

    roughly speaking, there are two ways of making money from software: 1) supplying code and controlling access to it typically through the EULA, and 2) support and maintainence of software.

    The first is what /.'ers call proprietary code. The second in no way implies or requires restrictions on access or distribution to the software, meaning that access to the source code & binaries can made available through a variety of licensing schemes.

    Then it's straightforward to explain that if software is treated like widgets & sneakers, then of course, customer support is a necessary evil. If, however, you have software that you or someone else wrote for which there are customers willing to pay for support or tailoring that software to a particular need and market, then of course, there's money to be made from OSS software.

    Then wrapping it up with a quick and dirty overview of the so-called open source community pretty much covers all the main points.

  50. Re:Derivative work by xpl_the_myst · · Score: 1

    I think that's the big issue. Like the article says, a database ported to Linux is not derivative, but what about a module or a driver written specifically for Linux. What about drivers ported to Linux? Then who is to isolate what parts of the code are derived and what are not?

    I am sure there has been a lot of discussion about this -- all this post says is that I don't know about all that discussion.

    I remember there being a discussion of "derived" in one of Linus' Torvalds posts that was discussed on /. (That is being very specific, I know)

    IMHO, we need a big case soon. One, to uphold GPL and another to settle the definition of derived work in software.

    --
    This sig is empty.
  51. I did not find . . . by ir0b0t · · Score: 1

    . . . anywhere in the article or the footnotes citing to a decision in which some fundamental aspect of the GPL was legally at issue. I will dig into the material deeper but has someone else found a reported decision yet? . . . Other /. posters have noted the importance of educating lawyers regarding the principles of open source philosophy. I agree. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution was primarily enacted to guarantee freedoms of African-American citizens against repressive state governments. In practice, the Amendment was read by courts to guarantee "artificial person" status and attendant constitutional protections to business corporations. (The intended beneficiaries of the 14th amendment waited until the 1960s to substantiate their nominally guaranteed protections via the civil rights movement.) I realize its not the tightest of analogies, but I worry that mission of GPL is not yet on firm ground -- just as the mission as the 14th Amendment was not on firm ground in the late 19th century.

    --
    I'm laughing at clouds.
  52. On OSS and FSF... by LilMikey · · Score: 1

    From the article...

    The difference principally arises from so-called license compatibility, but in large measure the differences are principally philosophical and not substantial.

    ...just then RMS' head exploded into a million pieces.

    --
    LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
  53. Re:Derivative work by juhaz · · Score: 1

    SCO?

    No. SCO has not taken any derivative work claims to court, they're just yapping their mouth, trying to spread FUD and get their stocks high.

    Their case against IBM is a contract violation, not copyright.

  54. Freedom Zero by hayriye · · Score: 1
    1. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).

    Boss: What is Freedom Zero?

  55. Water analogy by ingenuus · · Score: 1
    In an albeit strange sense, it appears that you and the parent AC are trying to make the same point: in open-source, money is made through services (capturing water in basins in your analogy, or, more realistically, purification, storage, and transportation). However, I agree with the AC that your analogy is only vaguely applicable.

    Your analogy breaks down because:

    1) In order to survive, everyone must obtain drinkable water continuously. This largely explains the vastness of the water industry ($5 Billion?) and its "near zero" cost. In an equilibrium, any product of human effort which must be obtained by everyone is bound to be both inexpensive (it defines the lowest common denominator) and result in an enormous industry. I'm not sure how this can be applied to open-source since it is not a necessity.

    2) The actual cost of drinkable water is highly variable, rarely near zero and cannot currently extend at a zero cost rate to infinity. Hence, I see no meaningful water analogy for the high cost of code creation and the near zero cost of infinite distribution.

    - Capturing rain is limited by the quantity and availability of rain and a means of storage. Land is not free, therefore how could rain or even rivers be free? If you do not capture enough water on your land this week or it becomes contaminated (standing water), how will you get drinking water? how much will you pay for it? As another poster mentioned, water rights can be a big issue when a town upstream starts taking too much water (or diverts a river)... it is the same problem of scarcity on a much larger scale.

    - Pollution makes zero-cost water even more rare as it contaminates the atmosphere (in which rain is produced), wells, rivers, lakes, etc., thereby necessitating more expensive purification.
    Anyone who claims that there is money to made selling Open Source software is daft.
    Red Hat's market cap closed at $3.17 billion on Friday, up 304% for the year.
    While superficially inflammatory, the AC's point (by deduction) is that Red Hat did not make its money by selling Open Source software, but rather by selling products and services related to that software.

    In conclusion, please explain what particular insight your water analogy provides regarding how money can be made with open-source. As far as I can tell, the parent AC succinctly characterized all the sources of income related to open-source.
    1. Re:Water analogy by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      1) In order to survive, everyone must obtain drinkable water continuously.

      To stretch the analogy a little further, if you are using only Microsoft software, then it's like drinking no water - only Coke.

      So, does that make the Mac RC Cola?

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  56. This will probably confuse some... by mcgintech · · Score: 1

    From the article...emphasis is mine.

    "Contrasting the Open Source and Free Software definitions, one finds that all Free Software is Open Source, but as administered by the Free Software Foundation, not all Open Source is Free Software."

    I have not yet read the entire article, but this one statement is misleading unless you understand the difference between "free software" and "Free Software". All free software is not open source. However, all "Free Software" is open source. A matter of symantics that is not particularly well defined in the quoted paragraph. The distinction in regard to the capitalization of one and not the other is not clearly defined, which makes the statement seem false when it is actually true. Confused Yet?

    Personally, I think the GPL is very clear about its intentions and use. The language is somewhere between normal speak and lawyer speak, which should be sufficient for anyone willing to actually read and understand the license. It is much clearer than your average insurance policy or any legal document written by lawyers. I think the essence of the problem is that most people don't understand the philosophy or the technical parts. Source code? Yeah, all of us /.ers know what it is but 99% of the population's eyes will glaze over when you mention it.

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  57. Re:And how this relates to our favorite /. topic.. by evansvillelinux · · Score: 1

    I think that even though we already know about GPL/BSD, etc, this is still a great article. I for one am grateful that someone has pointed us to this because I do not have time to search for things like this. :)

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  58. Lincoln urban legend by Tassach · · Score: 1
    If Lincoln didn't think like RMS
    Sorry to burst your bubble... but (contrary to popular belief) Lincoln's primary motive in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation was not a moral judgement on the institution of slavery. Lincoln's primary motivation was always the preservation of the Union - nothing more, nothing less. Issuing the Emancipation Proclimation was nothing more or less than a strategic decision designed to help end the war.

    In his own words:

    "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that."
    The true measure of Lincoln's character was that he was willing to subordinate his personal opinions on slavery to his sworn duty to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".
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  59. Bonus points by Tassach · · Score: 1

    You get bonus points for using the words "high-quality" and "MySQL" in the same sentance with a straight face. Postgres, maybe... but MySQL? Popularity != Quality. For reference, listen to a Britney Spears album.

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    Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
  60. Re:My Experience with the Linux by Tassach · · Score: 1

    IIRC, NT and it's successors are written primarily (>95%) in C++.

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  61. Re:More ways to prevent people from doing their jo by 1110110001 · · Score: 1

    But the GPL isn't needed to use the software. If you don't unterstand the GPL you have some software as free as in beer. GPL is needed for (re-)distribution and modifing the sources.

    b4n

  62. Webbink's article is vastly overrated. by jbn-o · · Score: 1

    Webbink's article gives the open source movement a lot of undeserved credit (GNU Emacs an "open source" program even though it was written initially by RMS and Guy Steele in the pursuit of software freedom years before the name "open source" was ever coined?) and the logic behind some of Webbink's points is in gross conflict with the FSF's stated logic (outside of a license manager program or encryption, copyright licenses are not what allow you to use a program; of the powers copyright regulates that have relevance for programs, copyright regulates only copying, modification, and distribution).

    Of course, I wouldn't expect a bunch of people who routinely credit the GPL and LGPL as "open source" licenses to notice this. Placing a license on a list of approved licenses is nothing compared to writing the license and starting our community. To quote RMS, the open source movement "owes its existence to the idealism that movement rejects".

  63. Innovation != popularity by soft_guy · · Score: 1

    dispel the myth that Open Source does not produce innovation ... the paper is actually very well reasoned

    I have to disagree with the paper's answer to the question of Open Source not producing innovation. My reasoning is that the answer cites Apache and SendMail, states that they are popular, therefore they are innovative.

    This sounds like a Microsoft definition of innovation.

    Was apache the first web server software? No.
    Is it innovative to make a cheaper version of something that is already available and then price it less? Not really in my opinion.

    Isn't the sendmail that Linux uses based on some non-free sendmail? It seems like a lot of Open Source software is simply a free version of something from the unix world.

    Don't get me wrong. I am not against open source and I do think that open source can be innovative. For example, XML and XML-RPC are free technologies that are innovative.

    Also, I'm not trying to badmouth Apache or sendmail. I just don't think they are good examples of innovation any more than Microsoft Excel is. Excel is probably the most popular spreadsheet ever, but it isn't innovative. VisiCalc, on the other hand, was innovative.

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  64. Re:Not only that by soft_guy · · Score: 1

    Yeah, it was real funny when I read it 5 years ago.

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  65. Re:My Experience with the Linux by soft_guy · · Score: 1

    You're thinking of the old MacOS.

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  66. Re:My Experience with the Linux by gnaasympathizer · · Score: 1

    HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF +MONDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: I will not suck any more dick ever again. +MONDAY EVENING+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* +TUESDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: I will not suck any more dick ever again. +TUESDAY EVENING+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* +WEDNESDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: I will not suck any more dick ever again. +WEDNESDAY EVENING+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* +THURSDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: I will not suck any more dick ever again. +THURSDAY EVENING+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* +FRIDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: I will not suck any more dick ever again. +FRIDAY EVENING+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* +SATURDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: I will not suck any more dick ever again. +SATURDAY EVENING+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp* +SUNDAY MORNING+ Cmdr Taco: Today is the Lord's day. +SUNDAY AFTERNOON+ Cmdr Taco: *slurp* *slurp* *slurp*

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