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Eben Moglen on the Global Software Industry Post-GPL3
Dan Shearer writes "Three days before GPLv3 was released, Eben Moglen delivered the annual lecture of The Scottish Society of Computers and Law in Edinburgh, Scotland giving his thoughts on 'The Global Software Industry in Transformation: After GPLv3.' The text transcription, audio and 384kbit video are up at archive.org. Eben looks back at the 'legislative action' achieved by the GPLv3 community over the last 18 months, and also from the 22nd century. A riveting presentation for all present."
wait... the GPLv3 is from the future? o.O
or is he maybe talking about the work done creating V3??
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Is it that hard to find a link to the actual file? I've just spent all morning visiting interesting-looking media links only to find that the site doesn't like my version of javascript or flash or both.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
91MB http://www.archive.org/download/EbenMoglenLectureE dinburghJune2007StreamingVideo384kbits/EbenMoglenL ectureEdinburghJune2007_384kbits_64kb.mp4
210MB
http://www.archive.org/download/EbenMoglenLectureE dinburghJune2007StreamingVideo384kbits/EbenMoglenL ectureEdinburghJune2007_384kbits_256kb.mp4
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
You see here on slashdot people frequently go on tirades about how somebody _was_ wrong. Or about how something _is_ a bad idea and is flawed. It's a common misconception that people have about themselves that this sort of behavior somehow means that they are smart.
You see... Pointing out bad things that intellegent people do does not make you yourself intellegent. Very stupid people can find flaws in other things very easily.
However what intellegent people can do is make predictions. That is take what they know, and what history has shown, combined with their own cognitive abilities to make interesting and insightfull comments about the FUTURE.
You see.. You don't need to be a Time Lord to know what is going to happen. You just have to be very smart.
This is how you know your ideas, beleifs, and assumptions are right and other people who disagree with you are wrong. If you can accurately predict the future then you are right.
And by being right and knowing what is going to happen next allows you to be _constructive_. If you can plan ahead and leverage what you know is going to happen. This allows to you change things for the better, or at least what is better for your own self interest. You can be successfull in business; Like Bill Gates did with Microsoft, for example. Or you can create fundamental changes on how society operates; Like how Richard Stallman did when he created the GPL, which created the legal framework that helped make Linux and the open source movement successfull.
This is in contrast to stupid people which generally just going around finding flaws in other people and other things, tearing things down. Then acting all scared at change and mystified about how things are not remaining the same.
You can go back to 1990's and such when things like GCC and Linux were just started.
It was very common for people to say stuff like:
"Nobody in their right minds would ever work on a FREE compiler. Sure it's a interesting toy, but GCC will never be able to replace "
"Ha! Linux in the enterprise? Sure it's a cheap OS for cheap hardware. But nobody in their right mind will ever use it. When people need to get REAL work done they will never give up their "
So what Eben Moglen is talking about is what is going to happen POST GPLv3 release. He is a very smart guy and is probably going to be mostly right.
The lesson to take home here is:
"One does not need to be from the future to know what is going to happen tomorrow with reasonable accuracy"
I am with Linus on this one.
If your comment appeared before this post, you didn't watch the entire video.
Beep beep.
After reading thru the huge flame war in linux kernel list on GPL3, I'm not sure if this is a positive step. (BTW, the 1000 msg thread can be seen at here.
It looks like Linus and many top level contributers does not agree with the FSF view on this license. The FSF view that GPLv3 is in line with the spirit of GPLv2 has not accepted, and the view seems to be that GPLv3 is an unneceassary power grab.
I wonder how this will end....
I regret not having the points, this is by far the most insightful post I've seen on slashdot. So many uuid's here only seem to post belittling smarter people than themselves.
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
Your entire post was very well said. Thank you for those insightful and well spoken words. A pity you are anonymous, as you deserve credit for them. But that does show the power of allowing people to choose anonymity when they so want it. Thank you Slashdot, for allowing anonymous postings.
I'd only add my favorite quote, from the well known Peter Drucker, which has been in my sig for ages.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
(38:30) about bribery and corruption often present in legal decisions:
"i don't think anyone actually thought there was any point in offering stallman money"
He is honest to god harder to understand than 'The architect' character in the matrix.
It's not that he's trying to be precise, he is a lot more formal than precise. Why is it so hard to follow?
I'm completely familiar with the words he uses, however the way he throws them together into a monotone slush is almost like purpose obfuscation at times.
Liberty.
...or rather Copyleft. All rights Reversed.
"..the tendancy of the market, if left free to itself, to extirpate ignorance and cultural deprivation."
"like all other monopolies, they obeyed the laws of the free market, they produced lousy goods at very high prices and they stifled innovation"
- Eben Moglen
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Actually, I find him wonderfully eloquent and inspiring. Lawrence Lessig calls him "the truly inspired rhetorician of our age". Here's one passage that struck me:
What a put-down. The slight complexity of the last two phrases ("happened to happen" and "we will soon be finished making no longer there") is deliberate. It makes you pay attention and drives the point home. Language like this draws you in: it makes you think, and because you have to work a little it makes you a participant. Frankly, you need to think and you need to participate because there is so much depth behind his words. There are so many ideas, so many necessarily unanswered questions, that I would even say - and I mean this as high praise - that at some point or at some level you need to disagree.
This man has such an excitingly eloquent and passionate way of speaking. He is devoted to his cause and he makes you think about things in a whole new light. Truly a great man. I hope that more people will hear what he has to say.
.. but I'm not sure "we win" yet!
Funny how sure he is that MS (or "The Monopoly") will be beaten by this community. I believe him
Or demon.
Look, if you're going to look for offense in someone's statement, you'll get offended.
According to biologists, you're a homo sapines sapiens. Hey, they're calling you a homo AND a sap! Twice!!!
Well, to use the words of the "great man" himself (under penalty of perjury): it depends what you mean by "is".
Hey, if the retarded fuckwit aspi (I'm an asperger too, but I don't fuck people over because 30 billion isn't enough: I've got to WIN too) can't understand simple words like that, I'd figure them somewhere down in the pre-erectus stage of learning.