Messages in this thread | | | Date | Fri, 3 Jan 2003 19:18:42 -0800 (PST) | From | "Shane R. Stixrud" <> | Subject | Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in non-free drivers? |
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On Fri, 3 Jan 2003, Larry McVoy wrote: > And therein lies the problem. You and RMS agree, in his world it is > like getting your roof repaired or a new washing machine installed.
I only agree with RMS to a point. Something like google or Ebay would still be very much possible in a world where most software was GPLed/BSD/etc.. Why wouldn't it be?
> And we owe it all to Google. To my dieing day I will be grateful to the > Google team, I shudder to think what it would have been like without them. > And Google exists because Larry and Sergey want to be rich. It's as > simple as that. They are extremely talented and dedicated people, I > have nothing but respect for them. But it was clear that they were > shrewdly building something they knew was valuable and they wanted to > turn it into a business. [snip]
For every Larry and Sergey, I am sure you know ten Tom, Dick and Harry's who slave away doing amazing things at a large software development house. Besides, my reading of the GPL suggests you only need to publish source code _IF_ you distribute it to a 3rd party. In house software development would not qualify.
> > If they had known that if they built it and anyone could steal their > technology because it was all free software, there is ZERO chance that > they would have done it. They are bright people, they would have found > some other way to use their talents. For me, it's a damn good thing > that they live in our current world, not your world or RMS' world. > Those are gray, boring, dull worlds. No thanks. >
Again I don't see why Google or Ebay wouldn't exist in a Free Software world nor do I see why Larry and Sergey wouldn't make a butt load.
I think it is important to remember that copyright law was not designed to make you or anyone else "rich". Copyright law is concerned with promoting societies progress.
Shane
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