Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: By this definition, GPLed software is proprietary.
Author: Brett Glass Posted: 8/23/2000; 5:41:43 PM Topic: Next survey: Are you an open source developer? Msg #: 20030 (In response to 20022) Prev/Next: 20029 / 20031
Then we agree that, by Stallman's own definition, GPLed code is "proprietary."As for the Debian Free Software Guidelines and the Open Source Definition: Both say that a license must not discriminate against a field of endeavor. (That's Point #6, which you didn't quote above.) The GPL does discriminate against the creation of commercial software, and therefore is not an open source or "DFSG-Free" license. The person who constructed the page you cite -- Bruce Perens -- has a conflict of interest because he serves on the Board of Directors of a Linux company. The GPL's stated purpose is to discriminate against a field of endeavor, and therefore it does not qualify under either definition.
--Brett Glass
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