From: "Tim" <ignored_mailbox@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Wed, 2006-01-18 at 21:10 -0800, jdow wrote:
Rightly or wrongly I perceive two things, it is impossible for me to
write code for a GPLed system in such a way as to protect my own work
from the accidental side effects of the GPLed system's licenses.
Just from a point of curiosity, is it not possible to create Linux
software that doesn't depend on other things? Do all compilers
"include" things that might contaminate you? And surely that problem
might exist on other platforms, too.
The point here is that I do not know for sure I can and precisely
what I can do to ensure that I will continue to be able to do this.
With Windows, for extreme example, the playing field is plainly
laid out. With Linux/Gnu it is not nearly so clear. And it appears
to be "obscure" by intent. Since I am a small target I expect to be
among the first hit if FSF wants to start raking in revenue so that
it can afford to attack a giant. I do not like that potential exposure.
Protecting myself from it takes too much time I might otherwise spend
trying to make what I produce more error free.
Going by some of what I've seen discussed, it does rather look like
Linux is set up to be something that's not ripe for exploitation. It
exists, but isn't going to be a cash cow. It doesn't owe anybody else a
living. And like many things in life, that can be a good thing.
There's plenty of other things that can be exploited, I wouldn't like it
so that the only way to use a computer, whichever one you went for, had
to mean spending lots of money on it.
I certainly appreciate the very different status that Linux has compared
to other computer systems, and not just because of the (low) cost of it.
I like something that's not under the thumb of a capitalist.
So this is why I do not elect to develop for Linux. I see it's viral
licensing as being too big a risk for one person to face alone. That is
all I said in that first comment. It's all I continue to say. For *ME*
it is not a suitable choice for development efforts that are designed to
provide me with my living.
{^_^}
