Linked by Andrew Youll on Sat 20th Aug 2005 09:21 UTC
SUN Microsystems Sun Microsystems has set up its first department dedicated Open-Source software, in anticipation of more Sun Microsystems code being opened up to the public.
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@ Arun
by on Sun 21st Aug 2005 04:59 UTC

Member since:

> I am getting tired of the same point being regurgitated again and again. Why would any OSS licesnes terms matter if no one is reditributing code?

Simple. The point is that some state that under the circumstance where you wrote a modification to GPLed sourcedoe, you are _obligated_ to give that change back under the GPL. This is simply not true. Its not true under the CDDL either. There's no license under which this is true. It has nothing to do with proponents, it is related to factual correct information which apparently is necessary given all the incorrect information being spread. This is why people describe the mechanisms since there's a small group of trolls and a bigger group of uninformed or misinformed people out there. Wether such mechanism is defined by an individual as viral, communist or nazi -- i'd care less for that as long as its also correctly described. As long as people spread the misinformation you'll probably see people correcting it. Think: Cause and effect!

RE: @ Arun
by Arun on Sun 21st Aug 2005 05:12 in reply to "@ Arun"
Arun Member since:
2005-07-07

Simple. The point is that some state that under the circumstance where you wrote a modification to GPLed sourcedoe, you are _obligated_ to give that change back under the GPL. This is simply not true. Its not true under the CDDL either. There's no license under which this is true. It has nothing to do with proponents, it is related to factual correct information which apparently is necessary given all the incorrect information being spread.

As you said. Most OSS licenses are designed to activate when a product is distributed. Talking about the terms not applying when one doesn't redistribute derviative work is moot. I think most people who you claim make factual errors are implicitly talking about the terms of the license which matter most when OSS is used for purposes of redistribution in a project.

Having pages and pages of flamewars based on semantics and literal interpretation of words is very distracting and unproductive. That's all I wanted to say.

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