A lengthy debate that began with a suggestion to dual license the Linux kernel under the GPLv2 and the GPLv3 continues on the Linux Kernel Mailing List. Throughout the ongoing thread Linux creator Linus Torvalds has spoken out on the GPLv2, the upcoming GPLv3, the BSD license, Tivo, the Free Software Foundation, and much more. During the discussion, he was asked we he chose the GPLv2 over the BSD license when he's obviously not a big fan of the FSF.
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Member since:2006-08-26
To be fair Alexandre doesn't look that great, but only Alan Cox comes off looking an adult.
Would you mind elaborating? I did not read everything, but Oliva posted far more than Cox did, so I would assume that he was "spread out" far more thinly and so goofed up more. Moreover, what I read from Cox was rather conservative claims that were easy to make.
Edited 2007-06-18 23:12
Member since:2006-03-12
Cox's neutralise's Linus more dangerous comments, yet remained polite, he does not get drawn into the contest, warns Linus without offending Linus who is clearly after blood. Doesn't bog himself down in minor detail. All looks completely neutral. Focuses on the problem in hand. That post I quoted is the *best* post I have seen in a long time.
Olivia is going to look bad whatever is posted arguing an abstract concept, weak wording of the license done intentionally specifically for the kernel, not asrespected figure with the kernel. Every Microsoft poster here knows that you focus on the positives. Compromise is already crippling the license, but offers *more* compromise, may as well have said he/she? was in the wrong. The whole spirit thing just looks stupid even more so when your describing someone else's spirit. The only thing Olivia should have done is reminded Linus his customer is not TiVo its those GNU users, Cox had to do that.
Member since:2006-11-26
This doesn't matter one bit. If I don't know how to bake a wedding cake for my wedding, I hire a wedding cake baker. If I don't know how to tune my car's engine and modify the transmission to make it a 4x4, I can go hire an automechanic. If I want to add a new room to my house, I can hire a builder. If I have software that was suitable under my old requirements and is now unsuitable under my new requirements, I should be free to go to any software developer and get some modifications done without requiring to go to the original developer.
Edited 2007-06-19 14:22
Member since:
2006-03-12
Your absolutely right. I did read that wrong, but is the fact that 99% of people will never write code, make it meaningless to those people.
The reality is both Linus and the FSF are in 100% agreement. That there exists advantages to having the code open, whether it come from the benefit that those 1% offer or 100%.
One of the things that I find interesting, the move that open-source has done by going mainstream is Linus desire to please companies; pander to the embedded market and he is right, and definitely so for the kernel which is wrote by companies much more than by hobbiests; academics etc etc or for Political reasons.
..but I think he's making a mistake, you can see moving to a web desktop; Solaris being more friendly; Microsoft appealing to both the home server/developer crowd, just at Linux the Desktop is looking "good enough" for anybody, and getting better. And he's wasting time attacking Sun and FSF, when they are both actively *promoting* GNU/Linux. While he embeds himself more in the kernel.
People like open-source for lots of reasons privacy; security; future proofing; easy to customize; modular etc etc without touching a line of code, these people know what "Linux" is they expect these things and others. Notice I don't even *mention* abstract concepts like the four freedoms. Tivoization doesn't give them any of these things. Why would they care what OS was on the Tivo. The thing I find most bizarre about the whole thing is that the success of Linux the kernel, and of Tivo themselves is because of these people that use and promote Linux.
I personally bought a wireless/router/modem by linksys only last month to run http://openwrt.org/ on the thing, and the premise that I could both run; and change linux on there and I intend to use beyond its current software limitations...and not write a line of code, and it will be a better solution for what *I* want than any WHS.
To be fair I'm tired of Linus the politician, GNU is a better term for the OS now, or Solaris. Both Sun and FSF both seem *interested* in producing software for *me*, and that will get to be an increasing theme on here. Linus has lost touch with the very people who follow him. People often quote the day Linus and Stallman were together and Dick ranting while Linus played with his kids. How times have changed. If you read the thread he's appalling. To be fair Alexandre doesn't look that great, but only Alan Cox comes off looking an adult.