Slashdot Mirror
Closed Source On Linux and BSD?
An anonymous reader writes "I want to start (very small) software/hardware business. The code in question will be closed source. I won't modify or use any GPL code or any 3rd-party sources. It will be my own handwritten C/C++ code from start to finish. I am planning to sell embedded-like boxes with an OS (Linux or BSD) and this code. I am more familiar with Linux but I am scared a little bit of Linux licensing, and also of Linux fanboy-ism: I personally got a 'go to hell with your @#$ closed code' slur on Slashdot. I am not a GPL guru and not a software freedom fighter. I just want to do my job and make a living." Read on for this reader's five particular questions.
My questions:
1. Can I do it with Linux today (GPL2) and tomorrow (GPL3)?
2. Can I statically link the code with Linux libraries? (My own experience shows that dynamic linking is too much to bear.)
3. Can I obfuscate my code (e.g. encode it)?
4. Could I be forced to publish this code by some 3-d party?
5. Am I correct that programming in and selling BSD-based boxes won't raise any of the above problems?
My questions:
1. Can I do it with Linux today (GPL2) and tomorrow (GPL3)?
2. Can I statically link the code with Linux libraries? (My own experience shows that dynamic linking is too much to bear.)
3. Can I obfuscate my code (e.g. encode it)?
4. Could I be forced to publish this code by some 3-d party?
5. Am I correct that programming in and selling BSD-based boxes won't raise any of the above problems?
As an entrepreneur you should be absolutely clear what you are dealing with when you talk about GNU/Linux, specifically GNU. Richard Stallman has stated time and again that he considers proprietary software development and distribution to be immoral and that it is the goal of his project and organization to eliminate it - that's you! Go to their project page and read their philosophy documents yourself. They make their goals completely clear for the world to see.
Make no mistake about it, while using the GNU system may be convenient, their goals are in direct conflict with your goals - they consider your goals to be outright immoral - and they control the licensing of the GNU projects that make up the system.
I'm sorry, but if your business model depends on benefiting from the continued maintenance and security support of GNU/Linux system projects, you need to very seriously weigh the risks and benefits.
Selling a closed box solution, you're really doing yourself a disservice if you don't start with *BSD and prove to yourself why you should risk basing your product on GNU/Linux.
I think GNU is great personally, but I really think it's funny to see corporations jumping on the bandwagon without realizing who's up front driving.
To questions one, two, three, four and five: eat a cock, shithead. And by "cock", I mean "penis" -- the "meat" in front of the "two veg".
We don't need your kind around here. You want something for free, to make a profit out of? Fuck off. Go leech somewhere else. People shouldn't be answering questions for the likes of you, regardless of how frothy-mouthed they may be.