Stallman said developers may be encouraged to add a command to their GPL-licensed Web application that lets users download the source code. The inclusion of this command in modified versions of the program will then be enforced by an additional clause in GPL 3.
"We're looking at an approach where programs used (on a public server) will have to include a command for the user to download the source for the version that is running," Stallman said. "If you release a program that implements such a command, GPL 3 will require others to keep the command working in their modified versions of the program."
This change would have no effect on existing software but could be added by developers to future versions of a particular program, according to Stallman. He said this was only a "tentative plan" as it has not yet been studied fully to see whether it would work.
My question: does the "provided" apply just to [second] or to both [first] and [second] ?
I've always assumed it was the latter. After all, copyright law doesn't restrict the ability to distribute derivative works, except in that distribution of a derivative constitutes distribution of the original Copyright law does restrict the ability to prepare derivative works.
The way it was explained to me is this. Section 2 says that you may "copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above". Section 1 in turn says that you may "copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it". The key there I suppose is that it says "source code". According to the intent of the license, section 2 was supposed to only apply to source code. Section 3, finally, allows you to copies of the program, with modifications made, in binary form: "You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also...Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange..."
Section 2 would then allow you to make modifications for internal use, provided that you "cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change." Now, the fact of the matter is that most people don't bother with this, but the copyright holder is never going to find out and it's probably fair use anyway.
The GPL is a seriously twisted license. I don't think there's anyone who really understands it.
If you take some GPL'd code, modify it, and use it to sell stuff over the web, why shouldn't you be obligated to give back to the community whose work you are using to make money?
It sounds good in theory, but in practice how would it work? Would you really have to provide a live copy of your scripts to anyone who requests them? Let's hope you don't have any passwords in your config files. Not everyone has a pristine development cycle, where the software is packaged up and then installed. And even the act of installation is modification.
Actually, if you read the GPL carefully, binaries are considered a derivative work. So now anyone who compiles apache and runs a website has to provide access to the apache binaries? It's a ridiculous requirement, and will greatly increase the number of people violating the GPL and lessen the overall respect for the GPL. Why shouldn't you be obligated? No, why should you be obligated?
Such a clause would cause a huge split in the GPL community. Many if not most projects would be forked into "or any later version" and "version 2 only" projects. The business world would almost universally choose the version 2 exclusively, and even open source advocates like ESR would probably join that camp. The GPL, and eventually the FSF, would be dead. Maybe in that sense it's a good thing, it'd provide incentive for the software community to switch to a more free license like CC-BY-SA.
50 is probably overkill, but I'm sure there are plenty of cans of food there already. In the areas the poster was talking about the stores are open, so rather than bring 50 cans of food one could just bring 50 $10 bills, and save a lot of space.
However, at that price, I'd certainly assume there must be problems with it... Dying battery, hot pixels, busted fan, etc.
The battery is pretty much shot. Other than that it's fine, but I can buy a brand new laptop for about $400, so I'd have no problem selling my current one for $250. My girlfriend's mother just bought a nice brand new laptop with a bunch of extras for $650 after rebates. I think it was 17", cause it was wider than mine, in a widescreen format. It had a bigger hard drive than mine, was quieter, more built in ports, and was a lot faster. I think the base price before the extras (more memory, built in wifi, I forget what else) was $400 after rebates. $250 for a used 500 Mhz laptop is a rip off.
Next step up would be to have a ham license so you could talk back. Although...in an emergency I'm not sure how strict the FCC would be if you didn't have one.
All depends what frequencies you're using. Some of the red cross frequencies are specifically for licensed users, others aren't. Call the local fire/rescue house and see what they recommend. I've talked on the two-way radio before, handheld as well as the one in the fire engine and the ambulance. I didn't need an FCC license, but I was trained in the protocol and had permission from the chief. One of the EMTs got into a car accident while off duty once, and instead of calling 911 he radioed right to dispatch.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/commoperators/wncol.html "You do NOT need a commercial radio operator license to operate, repair, or maintain...Two-way land mobile radio equipment, such as that used by police and fire departments, taxicabs and truckers, businesses and industries, ambulances and rescue squads, local, state, and federal government agencies."
You'll want to make sure it's a hardcopy, because you might run out of batteries.
C'mon, who has a hard copy of Wikipedia? No one. There are people who have digital copies, though. This one's only particularly useful if you've got power, though a car adapter will do if there's gasoline available.
Amazingly, the entire banking industry was still reliant on airplanes to do one of the most basic functions - check clearing. The Check 21 system was created in the wake of 9/11 to finally allow digital check clearing. Netbank now uses the Check 21 system to allow you to deposit a check at any UPS store and it's supposed to clear in one business day. It's not implemented very well yet, but within the next few years I think you'll see ATM machines offering check deposits with next day clearing across the country.
A snail-mail forwarding service would be nice. An external hard drive would be a big plus. If you had the room, a scanner would be nice, or even an all-in-one scanner/printer. Verizon Broadband Access would be good if you're in a coverage area. GPS would be good if you're doing a *lot* of travel rather than staying in one place for a number of months.
A steady job is probably the hardest. A popular website with ads, or the ability to make money playing online poker are the first two that come to mind for me.
I could do it right now except for two things - I don't have a portable job (my current website doesn't make enough to pay for rent/hotel rooms, and I'm not *that* good at poker yet), and my girlfriend doesn't have a portable job (and probably doesn't want one). Oh yeah, and my laptop battery only lasts 5 minutes, so I'd have to buy a replacement for that. Oops, forgot the cat. Aye, there's the rub.
Basically, with my laptop, my cell phone, my wallet, and my Verizon Broadband Access, I'm set in any major city, until my savings runs out. I have a Netbank account, and Wachovia accepts deposits by mail too. I have a bunch of books that I'd miss, and I'd need to scan in or store a bunch of dead tree documents, but I can't really think of anything else. I mean, it was less than 2 years ago that I moved from New Jersey to Florida with nothing that wouldn't fit in my Honda Civic (which was packed very tightly). That included a television, a bunch of DVDs which I've since burned to my hard drive, lots of books, a couple lamps, lots of dishes, trash cans, all kinds of papers, and a bunch of computer equipment which I could part with if I needed to. If I wanted I could cut out a lot so that I could fit a passenger and be able to see out the windows, unlike the trip down here.
It really depends a lot on where you're going. Not so much what city, but where in the city you're going. The poster did say it was a church group, so maybe they're going down to another church that was affected. On the other hand, maybe they're going to camp out at the local firehouse, or in a school. Are they going to have electricity? Cell phone service? Food? Water? Sure, even if they're told they will they still have to plan on the possibility that they were told wrong, but then again if the conditions are significantly different than they expect then maybe they're going to have to turn around and come back.
If you want power for cell phones, GPS, 2 way radios, etc, I would suggest getting one of those emergency car starters.
I just thought of this one. Look up the local radio frequencies online before you go, and write them down. Additionally, make a phone call to the local fire/rescue service and ask them if there are any frequencies you can broadcast on to get help in case of an emergency. Call the non-emergency number during business hours to get this information, of course.
You really should be asking the people setting up the trip this question. They should have a good idea what's there. Some things I can think of are batteries, weapons, two-way radios, shortwave receivers, food (maybe some MREs), water, trash bags, maybe a bunch of cheap cell phones to hand out (you can get these at Goodwill or some thrift store), medical equipment, flashlights, a laptop, a satellite dish, some wireless routers, a bunch of copies of the bible, a copy of Linux, and a copy of Wikipedia.
if we estimate 100 million available used desktops, and each one requires only one hour of human attention to refurbish, reload, and handle, that is forty-five thousand work years
If we hired just 1 million of the over 7 million unemployed workers in the United States, and paid them $50/hour for 100 hours, we'd have 100 million laptops refurbished in a matter of weeks, and at half the cost.
I would pay plenty for a rugged Linux laptop with 500 MHz AMD in it.
Geez, why not check eBay? I'd sell you my laptop for $250, but it's got a Pentium III. I'll tell you what. You give me $500, and I'll go on eBay, buy a 500 Mhz AMD laptop, install Linux on it, and ship it to you, OK?
I'd say lets give them libraries and internet access in their homes, not screw up their education by allowing them to IM each other and play flash games while in lecture.
I think the point of providing the laptops *is* to give them internet access in their homes. These things are windup-powered, which means they need to be as low in power consumption as possible. Isn't a flat-panel display the lowest power consumption current reasonably priced technology can buy? If you're going with a flat-panel, you might as well connect it to the rest of the device. Something like the iPAQ IA-1 might be slightly cheaper, but the laptop in the picture looks more rugged.
One thing I think they should add, even if it costs a bit more, is a wireless card. With millions of children all with free laptops, they might just be able to deploy the world's largest mesh network. Free internet access for the entire country would be well worth it.
I have a 500Mhz laptop, which I got a few years ago for $400. It's not that great, and I'm thinking about upgrading it. Hey, I'll sell it to one of you for $200, if you want.
Separate from the lack of current availability, why are these not going to be offered for sale to US consumers? I haven't seen any mention of the $100 being a reduced-price-by-subsidies cost.
My speculation is that they're ignoring the cost of donated labor, and most likely also the cost of R&D. If not, then you will see the laptops being sold for $100, if not by them then by someone else (sans the hand crank, which wouldn't be marketable here in the US).
I'm sure it is. The laptops won't be built by hand, after all. But 1 hour to refurbish an old machine is way too long, if you've got 100 million of them. At that scale you could certainly automate the refurbishing process.
The real problem is you'd wind up with a refurbished desktop, which is much less useful than the laptop they propose. I've already said that I think the accounting methods being used by MIT are likely horribly inaccurate, but I'd still guess that it's cheaper to build a new laptop than to refurbish a desktop, when talking about a scale of 100 million (and a high cost of power consumption).
There's deadly malaria that causes massive economic damage every year. Debt and interest cause massive economic damage there every year. Wars, etc. cause economic damage every year.
All of which could be solved, and in fact will only be solved, through education.
With no money, these problems can't be dealt with, and the disruption of human efforts there cause food shortages, etc. from food being wasted, not distributed, and not grown.
You can't eat money. In fact, if everyone in the country had a laptop and a wireless card, there wouldn't be a need for money any more. A massive peer-to-peer network and barter system could replace it. Of course it'd be a lot easier to just keep money, at least in the form of debits and credits, and then the countries can even get involved in the international service industry.
"The most powerful force in the world is compound interest"
If it really only cost $100 to make the laptop, then it would be available at that price to everyone, not just to kids in Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa. They've gotta be hiding the true cost somewhere, possibly in donated time and effort, and quite possibly in shipping costs and even the cost of raw materials.
In other words, $100 is a completely arbitrary figure. Give me enough donated technology and labor, and I could probably make a $1 laptop. Let me hide the cost of travel, and marketing, and shipping, and I could definitely do it.
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My question: does the "provided" apply just to [second] or to both [first] and [second] ?
I've always assumed it was the latter. After all, copyright law doesn't restrict the ability to distribute derivative works, except in that distribution of a derivative constitutes distribution of the original Copyright law does restrict the ability to prepare derivative works.
The way it was explained to me is this. Section 2 says that you may "copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above". Section 1 in turn says that you may "copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it". The key there I suppose is that it says "source code". According to the intent of the license, section 2 was supposed to only apply to source code. Section 3, finally, allows you to copies of the program, with modifications made, in binary form: "You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also...Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange..."
Section 2 would then allow you to make modifications for internal use, provided that you "cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change." Now, the fact of the matter is that most people don't bother with this, but the copyright holder is never going to find out and it's probably fair use anyway.
The GPL is a seriously twisted license. I don't think there's anyone who really understands it.
If you take some GPL'd code, modify it, and use it to sell stuff over the web, why shouldn't you be obligated to give back to the community whose work you are using to make money?
It sounds good in theory, but in practice how would it work? Would you really have to provide a live copy of your scripts to anyone who requests them? Let's hope you don't have any passwords in your config files. Not everyone has a pristine development cycle, where the software is packaged up and then installed. And even the act of installation is modification.
Actually, if you read the GPL carefully, binaries are considered a derivative work. So now anyone who compiles apache and runs a website has to provide access to the apache binaries? It's a ridiculous requirement, and will greatly increase the number of people violating the GPL and lessen the overall respect for the GPL. Why shouldn't you be obligated? No, why should you be obligated?
Such a clause would cause a huge split in the GPL community. Many if not most projects would be forked into "or any later version" and "version 2 only" projects. The business world would almost universally choose the version 2 exclusively, and even open source advocates like ESR would probably join that camp. The GPL, and eventually the FSF, would be dead. Maybe in that sense it's a good thing, it'd provide incentive for the software community to switch to a more free license like CC-BY-SA.
50 is probably overkill, but I'm sure there are plenty of cans of food there already. In the areas the poster was talking about the stores are open, so rather than bring 50 cans of food one could just bring 50 $10 bills, and save a lot of space.
However, at that price, I'd certainly assume there must be problems with it... Dying battery, hot pixels, busted fan, etc.
The battery is pretty much shot. Other than that it's fine, but I can buy a brand new laptop for about $400, so I'd have no problem selling my current one for $250. My girlfriend's mother just bought a nice brand new laptop with a bunch of extras for $650 after rebates. I think it was 17", cause it was wider than mine, in a widescreen format. It had a bigger hard drive than mine, was quieter, more built in ports, and was a lot faster. I think the base price before the extras (more memory, built in wifi, I forget what else) was $400 after rebates. $250 for a used 500 Mhz laptop is a rip off.
Next step up would be to have a ham license so you could talk back. Although...in an emergency I'm not sure how strict the FCC would be if you didn't have one.
All depends what frequencies you're using. Some of the red cross frequencies are specifically for licensed users, others aren't. Call the local fire/rescue house and see what they recommend. I've talked on the two-way radio before, handheld as well as the one in the fire engine and the ambulance. I didn't need an FCC license, but I was trained in the protocol and had permission from the chief. One of the EMTs got into a car accident while off duty once, and instead of calling 911 he radioed right to dispatch.
http://wireless.fcc.gov/commoperators/wncol.html "You do NOT need a commercial radio operator license to operate, repair, or maintain...Two-way land mobile radio equipment, such as that used by police and fire departments, taxicabs and truckers, businesses and industries, ambulances and rescue squads, local, state, and federal government agencies."
You'll want to make sure it's a hardcopy, because you might run out of batteries.
C'mon, who has a hard copy of Wikipedia? No one. There are people who have digital copies, though. This one's only particularly useful if you've got power, though a car adapter will do if there's gasoline available.
I bought my laptop on eBay for $400 a few years ago. It's a pentium III 500 Mhz. I'll sell it to you for $250.
Amazingly, the entire banking industry was still reliant on airplanes to do one of the most basic functions - check clearing. The Check 21 system was created in the wake of 9/11 to finally allow digital check clearing. Netbank now uses the Check 21 system to allow you to deposit a check at any UPS store and it's supposed to clear in one business day. It's not implemented very well yet, but within the next few years I think you'll see ATM machines offering check deposits with next day clearing across the country.
A snail-mail forwarding service would be nice. An external hard drive would be a big plus. If you had the room, a scanner would be nice, or even an all-in-one scanner/printer. Verizon Broadband Access would be good if you're in a coverage area. GPS would be good if you're doing a *lot* of travel rather than staying in one place for a number of months.
A steady job is probably the hardest. A popular website with ads, or the ability to make money playing online poker are the first two that come to mind for me.
I could do it right now except for two things - I don't have a portable job (my current website doesn't make enough to pay for rent/hotel rooms, and I'm not *that* good at poker yet), and my girlfriend doesn't have a portable job (and probably doesn't want one). Oh yeah, and my laptop battery only lasts 5 minutes, so I'd have to buy a replacement for that. Oops, forgot the cat. Aye, there's the rub.
Basically, with my laptop, my cell phone, my wallet, and my Verizon Broadband Access, I'm set in any major city, until my savings runs out. I have a Netbank account, and Wachovia accepts deposits by mail too. I have a bunch of books that I'd miss, and I'd need to scan in or store a bunch of dead tree documents, but I can't really think of anything else. I mean, it was less than 2 years ago that I moved from New Jersey to Florida with nothing that wouldn't fit in my Honda Civic (which was packed very tightly). That included a television, a bunch of DVDs which I've since burned to my hard drive, lots of books, a couple lamps, lots of dishes, trash cans, all kinds of papers, and a bunch of computer equipment which I could part with if I needed to. If I wanted I could cut out a lot so that I could fit a passenger and be able to see out the windows, unlike the trip down here.
It really depends a lot on where you're going. Not so much what city, but where in the city you're going. The poster did say it was a church group, so maybe they're going down to another church that was affected. On the other hand, maybe they're going to camp out at the local firehouse, or in a school. Are they going to have electricity? Cell phone service? Food? Water? Sure, even if they're told they will they still have to plan on the possibility that they were told wrong, but then again if the conditions are significantly different than they expect then maybe they're going to have to turn around and come back.
Supplies that are useful on a camping trip may not be quite as useful in a flooded city.
Speaking of which, a few sump pumps would probably be very useful.
If you want power for cell phones, GPS, 2 way radios, etc, I would suggest getting one of those emergency car starters.
I just thought of this one. Look up the local radio frequencies online before you go, and write them down. Additionally, make a phone call to the local fire/rescue service and ask them if there are any frequencies you can broadcast on to get help in case of an emergency. Call the non-emergency number during business hours to get this information, of course.
Don't bring your bibles. These people need real actual help, they don't need folks coming down there with ulterior motives trying to convert them.
Don't you think maybe there are some folks over there who already are Christians and would like a copy of the bible to replace one that was destroyed?
You really should be asking the people setting up the trip this question. They should have a good idea what's there. Some things I can think of are batteries, weapons, two-way radios, shortwave receivers, food (maybe some MREs), water, trash bags, maybe a bunch of cheap cell phones to hand out (you can get these at Goodwill or some thrift store), medical equipment, flashlights, a laptop, a satellite dish, some wireless routers, a bunch of copies of the bible, a copy of Linux, and a copy of Wikipedia.
Just make sure you don't get paid via Paypal!
if we estimate 100 million available used desktops, and each one requires only one hour of human attention to refurbish, reload, and handle, that is forty-five thousand work years
If we hired just 1 million of the over 7 million unemployed workers in the United States, and paid them $50/hour for 100 hours, we'd have 100 million laptops refurbished in a matter of weeks, and at half the cost.
I would pay plenty for a rugged Linux laptop with 500 MHz AMD in it.
Geez, why not check eBay? I'd sell you my laptop for $250, but it's got a Pentium III. I'll tell you what. You give me $500, and I'll go on eBay, buy a 500 Mhz AMD laptop, install Linux on it, and ship it to you, OK?
I'd say lets give them libraries and internet access in their homes, not screw up their education by allowing them to IM each other and play flash games while in lecture.
I think the point of providing the laptops *is* to give them internet access in their homes. These things are windup-powered, which means they need to be as low in power consumption as possible. Isn't a flat-panel display the lowest power consumption current reasonably priced technology can buy? If you're going with a flat-panel, you might as well connect it to the rest of the device. Something like the iPAQ IA-1 might be slightly cheaper, but the laptop in the picture looks more rugged.
One thing I think they should add, even if it costs a bit more, is a wireless card. With millions of children all with free laptops, they might just be able to deploy the world's largest mesh network. Free internet access for the entire country would be well worth it.
I have a 500Mhz laptop, which I got a few years ago for $400. It's not that great, and I'm thinking about upgrading it. Hey, I'll sell it to one of you for $200, if you want.
Separate from the lack of current availability, why are these not going to be offered for sale to US consumers? I haven't seen any mention of the $100 being a reduced-price-by-subsidies cost.
My speculation is that they're ignoring the cost of donated labor, and most likely also the cost of R&D. If not, then you will see the laptops being sold for $100, if not by them then by someone else (sans the hand crank, which wouldn't be marketable here in the US).
I'm sure it is. The laptops won't be built by hand, after all. But 1 hour to refurbish an old machine is way too long, if you've got 100 million of them. At that scale you could certainly automate the refurbishing process.
The real problem is you'd wind up with a refurbished desktop, which is much less useful than the laptop they propose. I've already said that I think the accounting methods being used by MIT are likely horribly inaccurate, but I'd still guess that it's cheaper to build a new laptop than to refurbish a desktop, when talking about a scale of 100 million (and a high cost of power consumption).
There's deadly malaria that causes massive economic damage every year. Debt and interest cause massive economic damage there every year. Wars, etc. cause economic damage every year.
All of which could be solved, and in fact will only be solved, through education.
With no money, these problems can't be dealt with, and the disruption of human efforts there cause food shortages, etc. from food being wasted, not distributed, and not grown.
You can't eat money. In fact, if everyone in the country had a laptop and a wireless card, there wouldn't be a need for money any more. A massive peer-to-peer network and barter system could replace it. Of course it'd be a lot easier to just keep money, at least in the form of debits and credits, and then the countries can even get involved in the international service industry.
"The most powerful force in the world is compound interest"
And here I thought it was the human brain.
These days starvation is more likely to be due to some bastard blocking relief food supplies than simple poverty.
Aren't those two the same thing?
If it really only cost $100 to make the laptop, then it would be available at that price to everyone, not just to kids in Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa. They've gotta be hiding the true cost somewhere, possibly in donated time and effort, and quite possibly in shipping costs and even the cost of raw materials.
In other words, $100 is a completely arbitrary figure. Give me enough donated technology and labor, and I could probably make a $1 laptop. Let me hide the cost of travel, and marketing, and shipping, and I could definitely do it.