ESR: "We Don't Need the GPL Anymore"

[David N. Welton]

Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Tony Godshall (togo@of.net):
> 
> 
>>>http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/06/30/esr_interview.html
>>
>>I think he's full of crap.  What about you?
> 
> 
> It can be taken either as a serious opinion about real-world licence
> mechanics, or as flamebait.  Practically all commentators have elected
> to do the former.
> 
> Main point follows.
> 
> Eric:  "People who do what the GPL tries to prevent (e.g., closed source
> forks of open source projects) wind up injuring only themselves."

I think there's a big 'if' there, and that's "if there is a community
with sufficient momentum".  The internet makes having those communities
easier, so things like SunOS (the mother of all proprietary forks?) are
less likely to happen.

The conclusion I've come to is that different licenses are good for
different situations and that there isn't "one true license".

I don't think the GPL is no longer necessary.  There are lots of new
projects that start without much in the way of community around them,
and using the GPL is a way to make the authors feel more sure that they
aren't going to get ripped off before the project takes off to a level
where a proprietary fork would truly be "injuring themselves".

-- 
David N. Welton
- http://www.dedasys.com/davidw/

Apache, Linux, Tcl Consulting
- http://www.dedasys.com/