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OpenBSD Meets The Cat License Sketch [updated]
Ash'aman writes "The OpenBSD crew have just posted lyrics and illustrations for the upcoming release of OpenBSD 3.5. Included is a hillarious parody of the Monty Python 'cat license' sketch with respect to their battle against software patents over redundancy protocols. Check it out here." The sketch is ready; the software is listed with a May 1st release date. As several Monty Python fans have pointed out, the original sketch is officially called the fish license sketch; the cat just comes earlier in the script.
just a side comment: OpenBSD doesn't support SMP yet, but, it'll still run on SMP hardware without any problems (except that it'll only use a single processor).
Call me a nutcase, but I see the sanity in it.
I could develop a GUI front end to OpenBSD's pf, pfsync, and carp, sell it binary only.
A company could buy this product, implement it, and spend many hours training users to use it (okay, a company isn't going to spend thousands of dollars teaching end-users firewall software, but this is just an example).
Now if I refused to implement updates to this software coming from the OpenBSD team, and instead relied on my own mediocre updates developed in-house and behind-schedule, that company that bought this software from me is going to be stuck.
Without access to the source, which the BSD license does not require me to distribute, the company is reserved to keep using my broken software, or change over to the original BSD-Licensed software which, by this time, could be wholly incompatible with systems based on my software.
The BSD license is "more free" to a licensor; someone who redistributes the program acquired under a free license to users under an un-free license. The licensee in this situation won't have a whole lot of freedom.
The GPL license is "more free" to every licensee. And much more restrictive of the licensor.
It all depends on how you look at it.
All GPL software will always be available to modify and redistribute.
BSD software is available to modify and redistribute, but any of those redistributions could not be.
You're right that we don't have to worry about Free/Net/Open/Dragonfly BSD suddenly turning evil and closing their source.
But just remember that the FSF, Richard Stallman, Gnu Developers, and Linus Torvalds don't even have the option of suddenly turning evil and closing their source.
From where I'm sitting, BSD/GPL licenses really don't matter. I'll always distribute openly. For BSD software I'd modify, I'd retain a BSD license, likewise for GPL software (of course). But if I wrote my own software from scratch, I'd definately go GPL after listening to a few of Stallman's speeches. I'd just feel a lot better knowing that every licensee of my program is getting a fair deal, whether I'm licensing it to them or someone else is.
They're both free, just different flavors of it. I like the flavor that, pardon my opinion, "looks out for the little guy."
Have you actually checked out what OpenBSD has been doing instead of blindly ranting about it? Go ahead and click the link http://www.openbsd.org/35.html
Notable additions (besides CARP)
BGP4 daemon, unmatched by any other free routing software
pfsync to share firewall states across multiple boxen (goes along with CARP)
amd64 support with on-chip W^X
Security improvements for malloc
Several more daemons run with privilege separation
Support for native AES instructions on some VIA C3 CPUs (accelerated crypto)
Far from being dead, several network equipment vendors are using OpenBSD as a platform for their software, such as SourceFire and nCircle.
The difference is that OpenBSD tries to be an OS for professionals and do things that replace commercial products from companies like Cisco. While the average home user doesn't give a crap (oooh, we want accelerated 3D!) many professionals do (BGP routing, HighAvailability firewalls, professional grade documentation, secure configuration by default, etc).
Oh and buy the way, SMP is actually in CVS and you can actually use it; it's just not part of the 3.5 release.
Someone is WRONG on the Internet!