nemesis wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> nemesis wrote:
>>> How many big enterprises contribute code to the *BSDs
>> Well, MIT, and Berkeley, for example?  Hence the name of the software and
>> the name of the license?
> 
> Those are academia.  What about industry players?

OK, here's a question for you. Right now, you're saying
"""
GPL'd software evolve at faster pace than
MIT-style software.
"""

Since this is your assertion, I'll assume you actually know of some 
documented evidence for this fact?  Something that measures the evolution in 
some way of software under the two different licenses, in a way that's not 
subject to confirmation bias?

Because otherwise, we call that FUD.

>> All the stuff like OpenAL, Apache, etc that don't use the GPL?
> 
> Yes, Apache and its wealth of web and java tools are popular too.  Even
> Microsoft is contributing to them, as well as Sun and IBM.

So you don't need the GPL to make industry give back, see?

And the GPL doesn't make industry give back either. I don't see MapReduce or 
BigTable getting released by Google, for example.

>  Web tools are of
> immediate usefulness to everyone, not just Linux or GNU.  And, as I understand
> it, it powers many proprietary tools of those companies (so far, not from
> Microsoft).

You didn't actually read thru my entire screed, did you?

> That's true when it's GPL'd and truly getting improved for everyone, not when
> it's released under some promiscuous licensing, some competitor picks it up,
> makes it better and power their product with the superior modification and
> pisses and laughs on your face.

Name two. Really, I asked this before and got no answer. Name two 
MIT-licensed software packages that are no longer available because some 
commercial entity took it over.  Because, again, otherwise it's FUD.

I think there's also two kinds of "use" we're conflating here.

1) I write an entire OS from scratch, but I use your TCP stack. Or I write 
an entire video game, but I use your code to uncompress zips.

2) I take something like GNU and add an optimization, or I take something 
like MySql and improve the efficiency in some minor cases that are important 
to me.

While for (2) it might make sense about giving back the software, it doesn't 
make sense that it's that big a problem. If the efficiency hack is really 
worthwhile, someone else will do it for free. If it isn't, then it's worth 
the money being charged.

Thinking that (say) Microsoft should release their entire OS under the same 
terms as the BSD TCP stack is silly. They wouldn't have used it at all if 
that was the case.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

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