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Bill Gates On the GPL — "We Disagree"

Posted by timothy on from the doesn't-that-mean-disagreeing-with-copyright dept.

Dionysius, God of Wine, writes with a link to an Ars Technica story, quoting Bill Gates: "'There's free software and then there's open source' he suggested, noting that Microsoft gives away its software in developing countries. With open source software, on the other hand, 'there is this thing called the GPL, which we disagree with.' Open source, he said, creates a license 'so that nobody can ever improve the software,' he claimed, bemoaning the squandered opportunity for jobs and business. (Yes, Linux fans, we're aware of how distorted this definition is.) He went back to the analogy of pharmaceuticals: 'I think if you invent drugs, you should be able to charge for them,' he said, adding with a shrug: 'That may seem radical."

2 of 778 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not radical to charge, just greedy. by BasharTeg · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    > The Internet? UNIX?

    Are you stupid or something? The Internet came from ARPANET, a project of the Department of Defense, and UNIX was invented by AT&T. Both of which came YEARS before Linux and GNU. Neither had anything to do with OSS.

    It's idiocy like this that gives OSS supporters a bad name.

  2. Re:Not radical to charge, just greedy. by BasharTeg · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    A powerful CLI they copied from UNIX, a product of AT&T. Having nothing to do with open source or GNU. Linux and the "powerful CLI" you speak of where copied (conceptually copied, not literally copied) from propreitary non-open source products.

    Explain to us how copying AT&T is innovating?