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by yxhuvud 4932 days ago
Sorry but you cannot have both the cake and eat it. You either have to compromise on users or on developers. GPL license writers choose not to compromise on users by enforcing that modifications are contributed back. BSD license writers choose not to compromise on developers by allowing developers to use the code as they see fit, no strings attached.

These are not compatible. There are either strings attached as in GPL or there are not, as in BSD.
2 comments
chimeracoder 4932 days ago
> You either have to compromise on users or on developers.

Developers are users.

> There are either strings attached as in GPL or there are not, as in BSD.

From the way you're phrasing this, it's clear you miss the free software paradigm altogether. There are no strings attached. The ability for some users to limit other users' freedoms isn't one of the four freedoms.

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rimantas 4931 days ago
Well, you not counting something I want to do with code as freedom does not make it less of a freedom. That, and also, that by limiting my ability to limit other users' freedom you are in fact limiting my own freedom: I may not use your code licensed that way. That's way I go with MIT, BSD, whatever, and leave GPL folks to play their hypocritical games with semantics, definitions and freedoms.
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chimeracoder 4931 days ago
> That, and also, that by limiting my ability to limit other users' freedom you are in fact limiting my own freedom

Nobody ever said that you had a right to infringe upon others' rights.

> leave GPL folks to play their hypocritical games with semantics, definitions and freedoms.

There's not one ounce of hypocrisy anywhere here. You may not like it, but to call "GPL folks" hypocritical is absolutely ridiculous.

Finally, it's remarkable that you managed to take a comment my comment, which was originally highlighting the similarities between the two schools of thought, and turning it into a jumping-off point for how one is clearly better than the other. Well-done!

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yxhuvud 4931 days ago
Sigh.

As a developer I have a problem to solve. GPL code comes with strings attach that LIMIT my ability to use it since the code I am writing does not have GPL compatible licensing. Thus it limits me as a developer.

I don't miss the free software ideology - I just don't care about it. I care about the software I write and of what the users want, nothing more and nothing less.

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chimeracoder 4931 days ago
> the code I am writing does not have GPL compatible licensing. Thus it limits me as a developer.

So, you're saying that you want to choose a license for your code that infringes upon its users freedoms. That's not a problem with the GPL.

> I care about the software I write and of what the users want

Free software isn't about what users want. It's about what they deserve.

Rights are inalienable, so regardless of what users say or how they act, the rights are theirs, and neither you nor anybody else can infringe upon users' freedoms.

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icebraining 4932 days ago
enforcing that modifications are contributed back

Forward, not back. Sorry, but I think this is an important yet often missed distinction.

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