Andy Green wrote:
jdow wrote:
Andy, I am a software developer by trade. I use it to earn my daily bread
and board. If I develop in an environment that involves GPL I cannot see a
model that will continue to feed me and house me unless I take up a side
job asking, "Do you want to supersize that, sir?" or sit at my own help
desk all day instead of developing. GPL contaminates things too thoroughly.
I am not a lawyer. I just read that document and basically stay away from
GPL except for some recreational coding I've done.
Seconded and re-seconded.
I also design software and hardware... but depending on the field you
work in, GPL stuff can bring an awful lot of firepower to the party very
cheaply. Again depending on the circumstance, the compataibility,
quality, time to market and royalty-free advanatages surrounding that
can overwhelm the possible competitive disadvantage of having to open
some of your stuff.
No, GPL forces one to open everything.
The general deal is AIUI if you link with GPL'd stuff -- not LGPL'd,
which will not infect what it links to but only changes to itself -- you
will have to open your work. It seems that we crossed a threshold now
and the signs are that if you generate kernel modules you can expect
that sources will be demanded.
LGPL is less infective, but even that gets you into being a distributor
of source.
[snip]
Of course in your particular field if there is no specific benefit to be
had from using or being directly compatible with GPL'd stuff then it
makes sense to avoid it.
Unless one just wants to produce GPL or LGPL stuff, and not feed himself
with the fruit of his labor (like Joanne and I do) it makes sense to
avoid GPL altogether, end of story.
But if its just that you are considering to use, say, Fedora as a
platform for scripts or usermode apps then AFAIUI there is zero leakage
of the GPL-ness of the OS apps up into your code and BSD or GPL makes no
odds there.
Erm, if you compile and link any program which runs on Linux, you
end up with at least LGPL stuff in your code.
Mike
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