Thanks for your post clarifying the details of which version of the GPL re-distributed code can be released under. You seem to have a good grasp of the GPL so do you have a view on the following scenarios?
1) The FSF decides to release a license in the far future. For whatever political reasons, this version (say v666) simply states - "Anyone can do what they like with this software including closing the source". Would all existing licenses with the term:
you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
then be closable?
2) Could an organisation create a license called GPL x and then release existing software under that license? Basically, is the FSF the only organisation allowed to create a new version of the GPL? I'm assuming I couldn't create my own version of the GPL license and re-distribute under that new license?
To me, the phrase...or (at your option) any later version... seems to be a potential weakness.
There are a lot of comments saying Microsoft should tell us what's infringing otherwise they're just creating FUD. Well yes, they are creating FUD but what a lot of people don't seem to understand is that FUD WILL impact OSS adoption in the business environment.
They don't need to prove anything. They just have to scare enough people away to make sure Windows is the OS of choice.
As a Christian, I don't like seeing people criticize my religion... Why is the free speech of non-Christians important than that of Christians??
What makes Scientologists more important than Christians? What makes any person of religious conviction any more special than an athiest? Let me tell you that this is how it feels for athiests who regularly have their rights and beliefs trampled in the name of religion in its various flavours.
I've been watching this develop tonight, and Digg has gone into meltdown, not so much in the technical sense but in the sense that the user base is in open revolt...
I think this is a superb solution and it should be implemented immediately - after CEOs are held responsible for any wrong doing by their company...
Long term health issues
Pollution
Corruption
Payola
Poisoning
Bodily harm
...but wait it would appear they'd also be responsible for their coders producing bugged code... oh, dear. Perhaps this isn't such a good idea after all?
...why is everyone so worried about documents being stuck on the application hosts server? Don't you think that a smart organisation will know about this concern?
It'd be a stupid organisation that ignores this (especially if it's to promote lock-in) so I imagine you'll be able to save your file as an XML OpenDocument format on your computer, no?
Just because an application is hosted on the server doesn't mean you'll be made to keep your files there though I'm sure that'll be an option for those at webcafes or those with only thin clients.
I don't think several thousands is unfair. Imagine you're a company protecting your IP. Is it fair for you to have to go to the expense of hiring lawers for hundreds an hour and to be only recompensed for tens of dollars?
I'm not saying what they're doing is right but I do think it's reasonable that the clams made against someone should not only recompense the person being infringed but serve as a deterrant against others.
It's hard set a figure and that thankless task should probably be left to the courts to decide per case. Although $1000 would stop most home 'pirates' it sure wouldn't do much to a professional pirate.
I'm not saying what the RIAA is doing is right, to me it stinks but if this had been a mother and her 13yr old daughter suing a large company for IP infringement you can bet half the people here would be baying for blood and damages in the millions.
So, to summarise, it's a legitimate claim to sue someone for infringing on your IP and there should be some level of deterrent in awarded damages.
Is it me or did it just get extremely hot in here all of a sudden...
Can you install two different versions of IIS and have them run on different ports and/or addresses?
I can't even begin to think what use this could be. Would 10% of the user base use it?
Install or uninstall without rebooting?
How often does a developer, really need to install and uninstall a webserver? Would this be used by even 5% of the userbase?
Change or inspect the source code?
This is a point worth making but realistically, the people who are going to be using IIS were never going to be the ones who would be able to make use of this facility and all in all, these solutions sound like they're looking for a problem.
Let's be fair, it does sound like Microsoft have listened to their users and implemented changes that were wanted, changes that would be useful to the vast majority of users.
Perhaps it's time we reconsidered our 'if you want it, code it yourself' philosphy and give users what they want too?
Rumor has it that trusted sources from Joe's coffee shop say that Sam might possibly be interested in thinking about considering reviewing the possibility of actually looking into purchasing a piece of pie.
Rumour has it that Melinda actually moved the pie from table 19 to table 20 deliberately to confuse Sam but Joe didn't know and now is having a flamewar with Sam about a possible refund...
Izarc looks impressive and I'm sure it works very well but it isn't Open Source.
Yes, I know being Open Source isn't the most important factor but it as far as I'm concerned it's a Unique Selling Point over Izarc.
7zip is Open Source and it works great, is compatible with WinZip and has extra compression options that WinZip doesn't support (don't use them if you want to be backwards compatible with WinZip though). It also works on Linux so if you're ever in the situation where you have to use a different OS, you still can do without having to learn a new interface.
I can't read the article at the moment seeing as their database doesn't appear to be able to cope with the Slashdotting but simply put, switching over is a nightmare.
Before all the BSD/Linux/OSX users jump me, let me tell you I'm desperate to get off Microsoft software, however, I can't very well dump 10 years of computing experience and instantaneously learn 10 years of FreeBSD.
My 1 year plan of attack:
1) Start to use Open Source software on Windows
2) Move exclusively to Open Source software on Windows
3) Move over to FreeBSD
Right now, I'm almost at stage 2. I'm waiting for a decent calendaring solution and I'm good to go*.
Everything else I use is now Open Source. It's been a painful 8 months but I'm working hard to give this a chance.
Now, the interesting part comes when you start to move over to a new OS. It's a complete nightmare!!!
I've heard a lot of people say it's as easy as putting in the RHL disk and clicking a few buttons and I agree. It is, so long as you're only wanting to do office grade work!
Don't get me wrong, I can install RHL, Debian, FreeBSD and run it fine so long as I only want to use the web, send email, create some artwork, etc but if I want to install PHP, Apache, PostgreSQL, Postfix, BIND and connect to a network (Samba) then I'm going to be here for a good few months just to get it working (properly and securely - not hope-and-pray).
Once I've got it working, should something go wrong, I'm down for another day/week if I don't understand how things work.
I am an Open Source advocate but I don't for one second believe a switch-over is going to be easy and neither should anyone else here.
What we need to do is manage people's expectations of moving over. If you think it'll take less than 6 months to do the switch, then you're probably not a developer and I imagine most of the Windows users here do some form of development.
Anyway, enough of the ranting. I look forward to the day I can finally switch over.
Here's a big thank-you to all the Open Source developers who work so hard to give us our freedom!
* I still have to use IE for work to make websites 'work'.
I'm running Win2K and I currently use XaraX' (prime)
Were it not for Xara and Outlook I'd have ported over to FreeBSD by now. I have already started using OSS software to replace all my commercialware;
SQL Server - Postgresql
IIS - Apache
OfficeXP - OpenOffice (Except for Outlook as I need the calendaring and the iPAQ synchronisation)
Internet Explorer - Firefox
FTP - Filezilla
Website IDE - Eclipse (not ideal but it hooks in rather well with SVN)
Messaging - Gaim
Diablo II - Diamonin (Yeah, I'm just pulling your leg, though it is quite fun)
Congratulations and many thanks to the Inkscape team for bringing a completely OSS development suite closer to reality.
Actually, you'll find that it's probably more to do with your MTU than China censoring you.
If they were really observing all your photographs being uploaded in realtime I think most of the 1.6 billion people in China would be too busy monitoring incoming/outgoing connections to live a productive life.
I had this problem too but I can still send anything out that I choose to send with enough effort and without resorting to anything other than patience and occasionally having to use my connection when the traffic isn't at it's peak.
Perhaps your analysis of the situation isn't quite correct?
This has been a story I've followed quite closely.
While I've been helpless to do anything for the guy I'm glad to see that the community as a whole was there to support him.
Despite my own personal life experiences, it's really made me feel that there are still a lot of good people in the world.
Welcome back!
It's quite possible this guy has been put up to this by the game designers or perhaps he has an interest in making sure people want to buy into this game.
Re:While this is great for open source advocates..
on
TheOpenCD 2.0 Released
·
· Score: 1
After this it's a simple matter to make them give you 10% of their income and their firstborn.
I find that if they don't see things my way after 2 weeks under my wing I give them the 'cold' treatment. You can oust them from your little group and make them feel excluded and unloved but please (and all you novices take note) make sure you have already excluded them from their social circle or you will have to re-induct them again.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for your post clarifying the details of which version of the GPL re-distributed code can be released under. You seem to have a good grasp of the GPL so do you have a view on the following scenarios?
1) The FSF decides to release a license in the far future. For whatever political reasons, this version (say v666) simply states - "Anyone can do what they like with this software including closing the source". Would all existing licenses with the term:
you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
then be closable?
2) Could an organisation create a license called GPL x and then release existing software under that license? Basically, is the FSF the only organisation allowed to create a new version of the GPL? I'm assuming I couldn't create my own version of the GPL license and re-distribute under that new license?
To me, the phrase ...or (at your option) any later version... seems to be a potential weakness.
There are a lot of comments saying Microsoft should tell us what's infringing otherwise they're just creating FUD. Well yes, they are creating FUD but what a lot of people don't seem to understand is that FUD WILL impact OSS adoption in the business environment.
They don't need to prove anything. They just have to scare enough people away to make sure Windows is the OS of choice.
What makes Scientologists more important than Christians? What makes any person of religious conviction any more special than an athiest? Let me tell you that this is how it feels for athiests who regularly have their rights and beliefs trampled in the name of religion in its various flavours.
I've been watching this develop tonight, and Digg has gone into meltdown, not so much in the technical sense but in the sense that the user base is in open revolt...
I've always found Digg users to be revolting...
Have you considered creating an account with username: Roland_Piquepaille?
That's the whole point.
It's designed to make you want to help them make a better one.
Of course they know it's a violent assault on your eyes.
Sheesh, a little reverse psychology and you're all scrambling around like confused children!
I think this is a superb solution and it should be implemented immediately - after CEOs are held responsible for any wrong doing by their company...
...but wait it would appear they'd also be responsible for their coders producing bugged code... oh, dear. Perhaps this isn't such a good idea after all?
Long term health issues
Pollution
Corruption
Payola
Poisoning
Bodily harm
Maybe this goes some way to explaining why OpenOffice switched over to using Java all those months ago?
...why is everyone so worried about documents being stuck on the application hosts server? Don't you think that a smart organisation will know about this concern?
It'd be a stupid organisation that ignores this (especially if it's to promote lock-in) so I imagine you'll be able to save your file as an XML OpenDocument format on your computer, no?
Just because an application is hosted on the server doesn't mean you'll be made to keep your files there though I'm sure that'll be an option for those at webcafes or those with only thin clients.
I don't think several thousands is unfair. Imagine you're a company protecting your IP. Is it fair for you to have to go to the expense of hiring lawers for hundreds an hour and to be only recompensed for tens of dollars?
I'm not saying what they're doing is right but I do think it's reasonable that the clams made against someone should not only recompense the person being infringed but serve as a deterrant against others.
It's hard set a figure and that thankless task should probably be left to the courts to decide per case. Although $1000 would stop most home 'pirates' it sure wouldn't do much to a professional pirate.
I'm not saying what the RIAA is doing is right, to me it stinks but if this had been a mother and her 13yr old daughter suing a large company for IP infringement you can bet half the people here would be baying for blood and damages in the millions.
So, to summarise, it's a legitimate claim to sue someone for infringing on your IP and there should be some level of deterrent in awarded damages.
Is it me or did it just get extremely hot in here all of a sudden...
I'm all for Open Source but really...
Can you install two different versions of IIS and have them run on different ports and/or addresses?
I can't even begin to think what use this could be. Would 10% of the user base use it?
Install or uninstall without rebooting?
How often does a developer, really need to install and uninstall a webserver? Would this be used by even 5% of the userbase? Change or inspect the source code?
This is a point worth making but realistically, the people who are going to be using IIS were never going to be the ones who would be able to make use of this facility and all in all, these solutions sound like they're looking for a problem.
Let's be fair, it does sound like Microsoft have listened to their users and implemented changes that were wanted, changes that would be useful to the vast majority of users.
Perhaps it's time we reconsidered our 'if you want it, code it yourself' philosphy and give users what they want too?
Rumor has it that trusted sources from Joe's coffee shop say that Sam might possibly be interested in thinking about considering reviewing the possibility of actually looking into purchasing a piece of pie.
...but don't tell anyone else!
Rumour has it that Melinda actually moved the pie from table 19 to table 20 deliberately to confuse Sam but Joe didn't know and now is having a flamewar with Sam about a possible refund...
...oh come on! Someone had to say it.
Izarc looks impressive and I'm sure it works very well but it isn't Open Source.
Yes, I know being Open Source isn't the most important factor but it as far as I'm concerned it's a Unique Selling Point over Izarc.
7zip is Open Source and it works great, is compatible with WinZip and has extra compression options that WinZip doesn't support (don't use them if you want to be backwards compatible with WinZip though). It also works on Linux so if you're ever in the situation where you have to use a different OS, you still can do without having to learn a new interface.
I can't read the article at the moment seeing as their database doesn't appear to be able to cope with the Slashdotting but simply put, switching over is a nightmare.
Before all the BSD/Linux/OSX users jump me, let me tell you I'm desperate to get off Microsoft software, however, I can't very well dump 10 years of computing experience and instantaneously learn 10 years of FreeBSD.
My 1 year plan of attack:
1) Start to use Open Source software on Windows
2) Move exclusively to Open Source software on Windows
3) Move over to FreeBSD
Right now, I'm almost at stage 2. I'm waiting for a decent calendaring solution and I'm good to go*.
Everything else I use is now Open Source. It's been a painful 8 months but I'm working hard to give this a chance.
Now, the interesting part comes when you start to move over to a new OS. It's a complete nightmare!!!
I've heard a lot of people say it's as easy as putting in the RHL disk and clicking a few buttons and I agree. It is, so long as you're only wanting to do office grade work!
Don't get me wrong, I can install RHL, Debian, FreeBSD and run it fine so long as I only want to use the web, send email, create some artwork, etc but if I want to install PHP, Apache, PostgreSQL, Postfix, BIND and connect to a network (Samba) then I'm going to be here for a good few months just to get it working (properly and securely - not hope-and-pray).
Once I've got it working, should something go wrong, I'm down for another day/week if I don't understand how things work.
I am an Open Source advocate but I don't for one second believe a switch-over is going to be easy and neither should anyone else here.
What we need to do is manage people's expectations of moving over. If you think it'll take less than 6 months to do the switch, then you're probably not a developer and I imagine most of the Windows users here do some form of development.
Anyway, enough of the ranting. I look forward to the day I can finally switch over.
Here's a big thank-you to all the Open Source developers who work so hard to give us our freedom!
* I still have to use IE for work to make websites 'work'.
...late as usual slashdot...
...oh, wait, my bad.
Hey listen, you're not the one that has to, verify the story, check the links, correct spelling errors and write a summary...
I've been watching Inkscape intently.
I'm running Win2K and I currently use XaraX' (prime)
Were it not for Xara and Outlook I'd have ported over to FreeBSD by now. I have already started using OSS software to replace all my commercialware;
SQL Server - Postgresql
IIS - Apache
OfficeXP - OpenOffice (Except for Outlook as I need the calendaring and the iPAQ synchronisation)
Internet Explorer - Firefox
FTP - Filezilla
Website IDE - Eclipse (not ideal but it hooks in rather well with SVN)
Messaging - Gaim
Diablo II - Diamonin (Yeah, I'm just pulling your leg, though it is quite fun)
Congratulations and many thanks to the Inkscape team for bringing a completely OSS development suite closer to reality.
Idiotic comments by brutish Chinese generals notwithstanding.
Oh, please!
If baselessly/hypocritically labelling a country an Axis Of Evil which supports terrorism isn't idiotic then I don't know what is.
How appropriate. You fight like a cow.
So are you telling us you've been taking pornographic/subversive pictures?
;)
I'm just teasing now
Actually, you'll find that it's probably more to do with your MTU than China censoring you.
If they were really observing all your photographs being uploaded in realtime I think most of the 1.6 billion people in China would be too busy monitoring incoming/outgoing connections to live a productive life.
I had this problem too but I can still send anything out that I choose to send with enough effort and without resorting to anything other than patience and occasionally having to use my connection when the traffic isn't at it's peak.
Perhaps your analysis of the situation isn't quite correct?
Thanks - sad as it may seem - that really has put a smile on my face :o)
This has been a story I've followed quite closely. While I've been helpless to do anything for the guy I'm glad to see that the community as a whole was there to support him. Despite my own personal life experiences, it's really made me feel that there are still a lot of good people in the world. Welcome back!
It's quite possible this guy has been put up to this by the game designers or perhaps he has an interest in making sure people want to buy into this game.
After this it's a simple matter to make them give you 10% of their income and their firstborn. I find that if they don't see things my way after 2 weeks under my wing I give them the 'cold' treatment. You can oust them from your little group and make them feel excluded and unloved but please (and all you novices take note) make sure you have already excluded them from their social circle or you will have to re-induct them again.