GPL and BSD

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GPL and BSD

 * http://slashdot.org/story/99/06/23/1313224/FeatureGPL-vs-BSD
 * http://www.shlomifish.org/philosophy/computers/open-source/gpl-bsd-and-suckerism/
 * http://www.freebsdnews.net/2008/07/18/bsd-license-vs-gpl-license/
 * http://slashdot.org/~Chemisor/journal/143017
 * http://news.slashdot.org/story/08/07/08/1832255/Linguistic-Problems-of-GPL-Advocacy
 * http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=506636+517178+/usr/local/www/db/text/1999/freebsd-hackers/19991003.freebsd-hackers
 * http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5935 Explains how BSD allows ideas to remain free.

GPL adovates have missed one of the key points that makes the BSD license do so much good for the world. The BSD license, by allowing people to use its code in commerical products, promotes commercial products following open standards.

The classic example is TCP/IP. There are a lot of commercial products out there using the Berkeley TCP/IP stack, and one of the big reasons for that is that it's cheaper than developing their own protocol stack or even buying one. The value we see from this is the network effect; that a device communicates using the Berkeley TCP/IP stack rather than Novell's IPX stack or Microsoft's networking stack benefits all of us, because we can much more easily communicate with it (even, perhaps, in ways that the author did not intend). Open standards are even more important to freedom for computer users than open source. (Having source code and patents documenting an idea is nice, but it's not much good if it doesn't permit you to inter operate with other platforms out there or implement the idea itself. Linux is popular because it talks to other computers.) Therefore, I'd say that the Berkeley license has done more than any other licence to bring us to the state today where we have a lot of freedom in our computing choices. Freedom means the freedom not to share an idea based on derivative ideas. A company is free to tweak the TCP/IP protocol in a commercial product without having to release the derived code, with GPL they would be forced to release any derivation.

There is not a single idea held by anyone that isn't somehow a derivative of another idea by somebody else. GPL adovates expect to be recognized for 'their' ideas, ideas which are most probably somebody else's who didn't seek recognition. GPL doesn't allow a user the freedom to do with the code whatever he wishes, but like copyright and patents restricts its usage. A restriction isn't freedom, restricting the implementation of ideas leads to Unintended_consequences.

If the TCP/IP was released under GPL it would have prevented Microsoft from adopting it. Forcing Microsoft to use their proprietary protocol by forbidding them to use TCP/IP out of spitefulness could have established the Microsoft networking stack as a de-facto standard like their Office suite is a standard, with catastrophic consequences for society as a whole.

Many GPL advocates are over-estimating their own importance and the importance of the code they contribute. They have an undue desire for recognition on trivialities -

Parkinson's Law of Triviality, also known as bikeshedding or the bicycle shed example. GPL like copyright is a restriction, not a freedom. Freedom means that a person has the right not to share his derived ideas, with GPL he is forced to share his ideas. GPL license is like the restriction on derived ideas we have with HackPatents, patents documents the idea, but doesn't allow its implementation without permission.

With skill full deceit Richard Stallman have managed to get people to say: Restriction is freedom! Much like the animals in animal farm chanted Slavery is freedom!. He pandered to communist resentment and people's desire to eliminate all class differences.

Lets be very clear about this: A restriction isn't a freedom. If there is any restriction about how one is allowed to develop an idea then it is George Orwell Newspeak to call such restriction a freedom.

GPL allows people with resentments to ensnare the rest of the world with it. They resent Steve Job's and Bill Gates being billionares. In this state of resentment they want to use the GPL for assured mutual destruction, like is happening with with environmental destruction of forests because 2000 idea restricting HackPatents are making patented commercial StirlingEngines unavailable to Africans.


 * Pending: place in section about Ogg Vorbis and theora under BSD in an attempt to get Microsoft to adopt the standard so that windows and linux can play the same files. Instead we have the defacto mp3 and Mpeg-4 standard under license restrictions. GPL proponents don't understand that if Linux can't communicate with Windows at all, then Linux will become utterly irrelevant. GPL prevents microsoft from adopting Linux code, thus preventing communication between them, establishing Windows as a defacto standard for applications.

Opensource newspeak
Opensource is a form of newspeak to obfuscate that it actually mirrors the effect of a patent: access to the source code is provided, but one is restricted in how it can be implemented - HackPatents. It is deceitful to call a restriction a freedom. GPL advocates must sort out their terminology and use properly defined terms to reflect what they mean as defined in dictionary's.

Theo
http://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20070901041657
 * GPL fans said the great problem we would face is that companies would take our BSD code, modify it, and not give back. Nope—the great problem we face is that people would wrap the GPL around our code, and lock us out in the same way that these supposed companies would lock us out. Just like the Linux community, we have many companies giving us code back, all the time. But once the code is GPL'd, we cannot get it back.

products
Ironport, isilon, ncircle, netapp, netscaler, juniper, sandvine, pallisade, avid, nokia, vxworks, thomson, panasas, symmetricon

GPL and Google: the fine print
Many GPL advocates are actually communists with the view that there shouldn't be any class differences and that nobody must make money of their ideas without them getting a cut.

Google is using GPL code internally, generating wealth with it and not releasing their code modifications. A resentful communist using the GPL to fight the free market don't understand that he is in anycase not deriving direct financial benefit. Many communists have spent months of their lives behind GPL code, which was then used by Google, without Google paying them a cent.

Thus rather use the BSD license and at least formalize what is taking place in reality. GPL is a form of communism that will not allow any idea to be commercialized. As a commercial company there must be derived ideas that Google can't release to the public domain. One can't expect a company to invest Billions of dollars in hardware to release a product and release detailed exact descriptions of what they did. Imagine that all commercial companies be forced to release their internal trade secrets and suppliers, it would prevent people from investing in the first place.

BSD encourages but doesn't force companies to release back their derived ideas. Apple has done many code releases back to http://www.freebsd.org and many of the core BSD developers work for Apple. GPL advocates and anybody else were free to buy Apple stock and share in the companies wealth. Yahoo releases back code to the postgresql BSD, keeping their in-house modifications current with the main SQL fork, allowing them to employ postgreSQL developers for proprietary coding. For Yahoo, Google, Sasol etc. to have a business case they must be able to use algorithmic abstractions documented by others, without publishing such modifications.

GPL thus penalizes those trying to sell electronic products using such GPL code, while Sasol uses GPL code internally to sell petrol, but Sasol can't be sued for selling an end product. In both cases an end product is being sold, in both cases GPL code is used to provide such product, yet only the electronic product is actually able to be targeted in litigation.

Telecom firms I explained under Crime and Bandwidth solution are legal firms with an antenna on their roof engaging in Rent seeking, recycling math algorithms on FpGa devices. GPL,Copyright and HackPatents holders and coders also are rent seekers, expecting money each time their ideas are used. This has resulted in an Aristocracy lording over indentured slaves, who don't have the money like Apple, IBM to patent ideas and aren't being allowed to setup their own businesses using patentend ideas.

This has partially resulted in 25% of world GDP being concentrated in the hands of 200 companies. This is not a failure of capitalism or the freemarket but Newspeak obfuscation by the powerful mind control entities CNN, Fox news. etc. who don't want the public to understand this. The solution to this isn't more restrictions on ideas and their implementation, which is what the GPL license is.

GPL fragmented the Unix base
GPL splintered the BSD freebsd Unix base into a fragmented mess(Ubuntu, Red hat etc), thousands of sharp minds are wasting their time building a better bike-shed, not able to incorporate the superior file management system under BSD(nuclear power plant). Red Hat used clever legal tricks to in effect leverage the work done by developers under GPL but not release back these innovations. They have made it clear to their paying clients that there will be some form of retribution if they release code to others. Red Hat worked out a scheme whereby they are making money of GPL code but not giving back some of these modifications. (this need citations, I have lost the article and will cite it once found again)

Gluster New speak
http://community.gluster.org/q/why-did-gluster-choose-gnu-gpl-agpl-instead-of-bsd-license/
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak

''...BSD license allows proprietary derivatives and forks of Gluster software. GNU GPL and AGPL defends software freedom better than BSD license. We would like to ensure enhancements to Gluster software to be contributed back to the community....''

Gluster not allowing their ideas to be used elsewhere without documenting such derived ideas is a restriction and specifically not a freedom.

later
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/

Apple issues
Steve Jobs stated ....... Apples makes the best notebooks on the planet .... Which is true, but what he failed to mention is that this is because Apple patented key technologies that doesn't allow other hardware vendors to reproduce similar products. The solution is to disband HackPatents and copyright, not add additional patent like restrictions with the GPL license.

We must not fight restrictions like HackPatents with an incantation of the same restriction - GPL.

k
section on SSL allowing windows and linux to talk to one another.

Help Vodacom rather
The cell companies are running a rent seeking scam. There are various responses to this:

1) Distributed denial of service attack by sprinkling thousands of FpGa devices with the 3G protocol stack in peoples gardens. This could lead to a severe backlash and is a resentful, angry option like GPL allows angry communists to live out their classless society fantasy, leading to unintended consequences. Any large scale uncontrollable attack on the cell masts could lead to cell companies paying enough bribes to both the ANC and DA to change the constitution to provide Icasa with real powers and completely shut down all wireless networks: be careful what you wish for. Trying to destroy the commercial viability of cell companies could backfire badly.

2) The pragmatic option, grasping the reality of the situation and adapting to it. Try and see the situation from Vodacom's perspective and reduce their cost of doing business by allowing them to install for free mini-cell towers(femto cells) on your roof and even interlinking them using the opensource Ronja FreeSpaceOptics.

By reducing Vodacom's cost of doing business and forming a partnership between communities everybody benefits, enabling Vodacom to reduce their prices and still make a profit. Their present cost structure involves setting up expensive large towers, they have to raise their prices to recoup their costs and provide a return on investment.