Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Public Domain = no copyright
Author: Raph Levien Posted: 8/23/2000; 6:28:07 PM Topic: Another key question Msg #: 20035 (In response to 20027) Prev/Next: 20034 / 20036
Public Domain is a legal term meaning no copyright. As such, it qualifies as a legal (if degenerate) free software license. It also tends to be an unpopular one, because it offers no protection against code being appropriated by proprietary products. GPL, among free software licenses, takes the opposite approach. GPL software, such as the Linux kernel, gcc, and Gnome, is gaining momentum at an incredible pace. Even the more notable public domain projects (such as SpeakFreely) are lagging. Connection or coincidence? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.
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