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CBC News Interprets GPL - Poorly

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-a-new-one dept.

frankShook writes "The Canadian news service CBC has up an article entitled 'Linux distributors scorn Microsoft partnership'. Primarily, it looks to describe the ongoing licensing saga between Microsoft and Linux distributors. It also includes a highly unique interpretation of the GPL: 'Open-source software such as Linux, on the other hand, encourages individuals to add to or modify software without fear of legal repercussions, so long as they abide by the conditions of the general public license, which stipulates that the program must remain open and sharable.'"

4 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Well, it may be inaccurate... by XnavxeMiyyep · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...but at least it's coverage. They say no publicity is bad publicity.

    --
    I put the 't' in electrical engineering.
  2. Re:I'm not too sure I follow... by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I thought the same thing, so I was confused. But then I realized that if you read it, it can be interpreted to mean *any* software. That is, someone reading that part could believe that "Linux software" encourages users to freely distribute/modify proprietary software.

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    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  3. Congradulations CBC! by John+Jamieson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't think I have seen the mainstream media do a better job of covering a topic in so few words. The fact that they even covered this topic, and it was on the main CBC page is AMAZING!

  4. Re:Huh? by Tickletaint · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Holy shit. Your post embodies everything detestable about overpedantic geekery. The point is that nobody cares about all that shit you just mentioned; and in my opinion, the CBC did a great job focusing on the relevant, interesting aspects of all that shit without fifty thousand words of expository material (the entire contents of the GPL, say).

    You're also wrong about the "GNU Public License" bit. It is in fact the General Public License (plus or minus a GNU).

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