Has there ever been a lawsuit based on GPL that stuck?? I know there have been threats, but I don't recall anything going to court.
Plenty of posts about this elsewhere. No one is dumb enough to take it to court.
if you give stuff away to your friends you have no right to dictate to them how they use it or regift it. I see source code this way as well. I think we'd avoid a lot of confusion if we just dropped the notion that free stuff can have a license. I know it wouldn't be the first time money had to change hands for something to be legally enforcible.
But you wouldn't like it if your friends sold your gifts, would you?
If, instead of charging you for my closed-source software, I asked for say...a computer, or rights to your software, you would have no objections, right? There is nothing wrong with non-monetary compensation.
but the notion of giving away things and also attaching requirements is a lot like a passive aggressive relative who "helps" you, but then expects you to do things for them in repayment. Free should be free with no strings attached.
No kidding. That relative would be like me in the previous example. I'll "help" you by giving you software, but I expect you to do things for me, like pay me.
The GPL asks that you keep the software GPL-ed. The nature of the GPL is that it increases your freedom.
They want to give away software, but they don't want to give away software. It seems so straightforward- if you get paid for something you can attach a license requirement. If you don't get paid and you give away things, there seems to be no real agreement between parties. Just because you put a sign up next to your garbage that says "free garbage to anonymous takers, but you must obey these other rules..." doesn't mean you have legal recourse when it disappears and shows up on ebay.
Ok, what the hell?
They want to give away free software and they want to keep it free.
If you choose to not accept the terms of the GPL, there is "no real agreement between parties." On the other hand, you can accept the agreement and attach the GPL to your distributions.
Your logic is:
If I give away things to takers, I can't tell them not to sell it on eBay.
If I sell things to people, I can tell them not to sell it on eBay?
Well shit, it's both your choice to buy the thing I sold and the thing you took for free. I didn't force anything upon you.
Next time you are at the supermarket and they have those little hotdogs with toothpicks and a sign that says "take one, free", imagine how goofy it would be if there was a piece of paper next to them that had terms and conditions of taking it for free.
Imagine how goofy it would be if you distributed those little hotdogs.
Merely downloading something IS NOT an acceptance of a license
Gee, really? The license applies to distribution; you can use the free software to do whatever you want. Only when distributing or modifying the code do you need to concern yourself with the license.
The GPL states that, while you are allowed to distribute, all distributions must be licensed under the GPL also. By default, copyright law says you are not allowed to distribute. Therefore, you can either do nothing (reject the terms of the GPL license) or distribute (accept the terms, forcing you to attach a GPL license to your distributions).
Microsoft gives vouchers that you can redeem with Novell for their software. Microsoft says that they don't count as a distributor because Novell is distributing the GPLed software.
"As part of the lawsuit, the operators of Peons4hire have been asked to immediately cease all in-game spamming efforts by all entities and websites under their control.
If this organization refuses to act accordingly, further legal action will be taken. We'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress of this topic."
Besides the fact that there are 17 pages of posts and, as mentioned earlier, this isn't criminal, it also seems like Blizzard is letting them off easy if they leave Blizzard alone. Also, they obviously aren't ready to reveal the details of this yet.
A survey last month of 300 Minnesota business officials found most thought a flu pandemic would significantly affect their business, but only 18% had preparedness plans in place.
No duh it would affect their buinesses, but if I were a business official, I wouldn't be prepared either. Why? Because I don't consider it likely.
I think 100% of buisness officials think that an alien invasion would affect their buisnesses. How many have prepared for that?
Cable TV? People thought that was suicide.
Satellite radio? People thought that was suicide.
Pay for something that's already free?! It's. Not. A. Bad. Idea.
Hm...It's been a while since I read that book...correct me if I'm wrong, but they realize that they were just set up by the adults to do their bidding?
I'm thinking that this is more of a reference to the idea of training people and selecting a few to serve in the armed forces?
Is anyone else not completely freaked out by just how Enders game this is?
...no? Ender's Game, if you're talking about the one I'm thinking of, involved 3D (as in more than just left, right, up, down, movement) combat in space. America's Army is strictly in the ground, you don't float in the air, and it's present-day.
Honestly, how many people join the army after playing AA?
Same here...what's the point of making it look the same? I have a stand-alone client for when I want to really do stuff; the web interface is just a convenience.
Slashdot Mirror
But it doesn't. Ubuntu doesn't install itself (yet).
Your logic is:
If I give away things to takers, I can't tell them not to sell it on eBay.
If I sell things to people, I can tell them not to sell it on eBay?
Well shit, it's both your choice to buy the thing I sold and the thing you took for free. I didn't force anything upon you. Imagine how goofy it would be if you distributed those little hotdogs. Gee, really? The license applies to distribution; you can use the free software to do whatever you want. Only when distributing or modifying the code do you need to concern yourself with the license.
The GPL states that, while you are allowed to distribute, all distributions must be licensed under the GPL also. By default, copyright law says you are not allowed to distribute. Therefore, you can either do nothing (reject the terms of the GPL license) or distribute (accept the terms, forcing you to attach a GPL license to your distributions). Microsoft gives vouchers that you can redeem with Novell for their software. Microsoft says that they don't count as a distributor because Novell is distributing the GPLed software.
Elaborate, please? I don't see why; the GPL has always been "viral."
So...what was YouTube supposed to do? Seize control of the internet and delete all copies of the video?
"As part of the lawsuit, the operators of Peons4hire have been asked to immediately cease all in-game spamming efforts by all entities and websites under their control. If this organization refuses to act accordingly, further legal action will be taken. We'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress of this topic." Besides the fact that there are 17 pages of posts and, as mentioned earlier, this isn't criminal, it also seems like Blizzard is letting them off easy if they leave Blizzard alone. Also, they obviously aren't ready to reveal the details of this yet.
No duh it would affect their buinesses, but if I were a business official, I wouldn't be prepared either. Why? Because I don't consider it likely.
I think 100% of buisness officials think that an alien invasion would affect their buisnesses. How many have prepared for that?
But hey, you never (well, almost never, I think) get type mismatches. Damn, those are the most annoying errors. Ever.
Cable TV? People thought that was suicide. Satellite radio? People thought that was suicide. Pay for something that's already free?! It's. Not. A. Bad. Idea.
Hm...It's been a while since I read that book...correct me if I'm wrong, but they realize that they were just set up by the adults to do their bidding? I'm thinking that this is more of a reference to the idea of training people and selecting a few to serve in the armed forces?
And how do you expect the "oppressed" to find you?
That may be true but many countries who are "oppressive" may not really care about financial transactions through the internet.
Same here...what's the point of making it look the same? I have a stand-alone client for when I want to really do stuff; the web interface is just a convenience.