Slashdot Mirror


France Hostile To Open Source Software?

AdamWeeden writes "According to the Free Software Foundation of France the French Department of Culture is telling free (as in speech) software providers that 'You will be required to change your licenses ... You shall stop publishing free software,' and warn they are ready 'to sue free software authors who will keep on publishing source code.'" From the post: "It appears that publishing Free Software giving access to culture is about to become a counterfeiting criminal offence. Will SACEM sue France Télécom R&D research labs for having published Maay and Solipsis (P2P pieces of software used to exchange data)? Up to this point, the rather technical debate surrounding the issues addressed by DADVSI bill (copyright and neighbouring rights in the information society) makes one ask: Just how much control do the Big Players in the field of culture want to seize? It now looks like years of quibbling have put an end to compromises." More information on the DADVSI bill is available at Infos-du-net.com. They've come a long way since last year.

29 of 524 comments (clear)

  1. Is there a French word for "Backroom Deal"? by DiscoBobby · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because Microsoft France surely just made one.

    1. Re:Is there a French word for "Backroom Deal"? by IdleTime · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes, they have a word "Politique Americanaise"

      --
      If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    2. Re:Is there a French word for "Backroom Deal"? by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 2, Funny
      Entering "French Military Victories" into the Firefox location bar will bring up a query "Did you mean: french military defeats "*

      That is beyond funny.

      --
      -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
  2. Nice to see... by BJZQ8 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nice to see that the US doesn't have a monopoly on loony government agencies and legislation...that's obviously in the public domain.

    1. Re:Nice to see... by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yea, we tried to patent it, but the prior art was overwhelming.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    2. Re:Nice to see... by modecx · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nice to see that the US doesn't have a monopoly on loony government agencies and legislation...that's obviously in the public domain.

      No, I'm afraid we've got a stranglehold on that market too... They've obtained a licensed copy of USLGAL (United States Loony Government Agencies and Legislation) from us a while back. Hate to burst your bubble. It's very expensive, the EULA is a bitch, and it requires use of a dongle whose governor is named Jeb. //Our country has a phallus and France is our whore, do the math! //Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

      --
      Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
    3. Re:Nice to see... by name773 · · Score: 2, Funny

      where volatile chemicals are properly disposed of

  3. Toute votre base sont appartiennent à nous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Toute votre base sont appartiennent à nous
    il n'y aura aucun logiciel libre en France !

    1. Re:Toute votre base sont appartiennent à nous by Henk+Postma · · Score: 4, Funny

      Je parle ne pas Francais vous clod insensitive!

    2. Re:Toute votre base sont appartiennent à nous by focitrixilous+P · · Score: 3, Funny
      Babel Fish might actually improve the original text for a change, so hear you go:
      Narrateur : Dans A.D. 2101, la guerre commençait.

      Capitaine : Que se produisent ?
      Mecanicien : Quelqu'un nous a installes la bombe.
      Operateur : Nous obtenons le signal.
      Capitaine : Ce qui !
      Operateur : L'ecran principal s'allument.
      Capitaine : C'est vous ! !
      CATS : Comment allez vous des messieurs ! !
      CATS : Toute votre base sont appartiennent a nous.
      CATS : Vous etes sur le chemin a la destruction.
      Capitaine : Ce que vous dites ! !
      CATS : Vous n'avez aucune chance de survivre faites votre temps.
      CATS : Ha Ha Ha Ha....
      Operateur : Capitaine ! !
      Capitaine : Enlevez chaque 'Zig '! !
      Capitaine : Vous savez ce qui vous faisant.
      Capitaine : Deplacez 'Zig '.
      Capitaine : Pour la grande justice.
      There, I ruined the joke for all of you.
      --
      SAILING MISHAP
  4. I'm not too worried... by tor528 · · Score: 3, Funny

    When has France ever been hostile towards something and then come out on top?

    --
    If I think something is funny, I will probably mod it +1 Insightful. "It's funny because it's true."
    1. Re:I'm not too worried... by b0bby · · Score: 5, Funny

      When has France ever been hostile towards something and then come out on top?

      What about Greenpeace?

    2. Re:I'm not too worried... by Tim+Browse · · Score: 2, Funny

      1066. Battle of Hastings.

      Or, if you prefer, any time an American tourist spends time in France.

      "According to a poll, who are the rudest people in Europe?"
      "American tourists..?"

  5. That's it! by masnare · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was on the fence, but now they've done it. I am officially giving up croissants, snobbery, and disdain for other people. I just can't be associated with them anymore.

    1. Re:That's it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Does this mean you will start bathing again?

    2. Re:That's it! by thryllkill · · Score: 4, Funny

      A duel monitor set up is not a ménage à trois, no matter how much you want it to be one.

      --

      Note to self: No more arguing with the faithful.

    3. Re:That's it! by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Funny
      I was on the fence, but now they've done it. I am officially giving up croissants, snobbery, and disdain for other people. I just can't be associated with them anymore.

      Good luck on the whole croissants thing -- looks like the others have already fallen by the wayside. ;-P
      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  6. Does that mean we have to back to... by Gadren · · Score: 2, Funny

    Freedom fries?

    Wait...That won't work, since it's about free-as-in-freedom software...

    Free-as-in-beer fries!

  7. It's France. by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 2, Funny

    What can you expect from a nation that has 300 kinds of cheese?

  8. Que dites-vous? by Stormwatch · · Score: 2, Funny

    Vous n'avez aucune chance de survivre faites votre temps.

  9. Re:I love the Internet, though... by bastardadmin · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Nom de plume"; in this case though "nom de guerre" may be more appropriate.

  10. Re:Solution 1 by geekoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    I would call it Freedomware....

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  11. Re:Affaire Americaine by flyinwhitey · · Score: 1, Funny

    No, it just means that's where the oil ended up.

    Once again Dic Ruby spins and spins but won't go down the drain.

    --
    How pathetic are you that you follow me from topic to topic and waste all your mod points at once modding me down?
  12. Re:Interesting by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 5, Funny
    ah yes, here comes the flood of anti-french racist idiocy

    As it should. Damn those French racists! :)

  13. Re:Misunderstanding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding and France isn't upset abut the actual terms of the license, but that the license isn't written in proper French legalese, and thus is a pox on the French language.

    What they're really upset about is that the initials "GPL" should be correctly ordered "LGP" in French, and they want the acronym changed. This has gone back and forth for years. Recently, the FSF has offerred to change it to the meaningless order "LPG", which has helped solve similar issues in the past, but some people are afraid that the license would then become confused with Liquid Propane Gas.

  14. I object. by Some+Random+Username · · Score: 2, Funny

    Forcing monitors to duel is cruel and inhumane. This blood sport should be outlawed and people like you put in jail!

  15. Re:No biggie...Let's go commercial! by symbolic · · Score: 2, Funny


    Instead of giving the software away for free, by all means, sell it. But then, you can take advantage of a very common commercial gimmick, the big players have come to rely on: the mail-in rebate.

    The open source community can develop the first commercial entity to offer 100% rebates. Or, forget the mail-in stuff altogether - make it an instant rebate at the time of purchase.

  16. Quelqu'un nous a établis la bombe. by hedley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pour la grande justice.

  17. Re:typo'ed! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    does making a typo and receiving double karma count as a frontstage swindle? ;)