Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Libraries and falling skies

Author:Brett Glass
Posted:8/24/2000; 10:43:29 PM
Topic:Next survey: Are you an open source developer?
Msg #:20164 (In response to 20161)
Prev/Next:20163 / 20165

Libraries didn't contribute to the downfall of publishing by making books availible free of charge

Libraries do not require their patrons to forfeit the fruits of their own labor. The GPL is analogous to saying that if you learn something from a library book and use that information to make money, you must give all of that money to the library.

The GPL is an attempt to turn the "library" of freely available code, which is a good thing if it is ethically licensed, into a nasty and unethical weapon against commercial programmers and their livelihoods.

, and the GPL won't kill software or programming as a profession.

Its explicit intent is to hurt the profession to the point where programmers cannot make a good wage. Stallman says so explicitly in The GNU Manifesto (which see).

The sky is not falling.

If someone injures, rapes, or kills someone else, the sky will not fall, but it is still a terrible thing.

--Brett Glass

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