--On Fri, Apr 24, 1998 12:25 am +0000 "Rev. Joseph Carter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 23, 1998 at 05:04:19PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: >> Rev> It does that, but sometimes that is not always a good thing. >> Rev> Take for example the libreadline library. It is GPL, not LGPL. >> Rev> In order to link this library which is somewhat standard (IMO at >> Rev> least) your software must be GPL. An example of this is ncftp >> Rev> which was using it--that's a nono, even though it is a simple >> Rev> shared library. In this instance, the GPL actually hurt ncftp. >> >> On the contrary. This is an excellent point you made. ncftp >> is now under GPL!! Yay! libreadline not being under LGPL worked! >> Hurrah! > > Um, 2.x is GPL. 3.x is not, afaik. Certainly the version of 3 in hamm is not linked against readline, which would suggest not. In fact, it makes 3 in the hamm almost useless, IMHO - what is the use of ncftp without history and completions? They're the main reason I use it... >> So, it is indeed a good thing. Maybe more software would >> become DFSG free if we were a little more pushy about it, like RMS >> has been being. >> >> I think it is about time we hardened our stance in favour of >> the GPL. > > Manoj, you're crazy, you realize that? <sigh> I happened to like 3 > better than 2 personally. <shrug> Ah well, one of my favorite programs > is now free for the modding---someone wanna do slang version now? => The GPL's not that good. Here's an example from the Mac-side. Internet Config is a free program which centralises the users internet preferences (mail-servers, email address, .sig, etc.). Because it's free, it is used by lots of commercial and pseudo-commercial (Netscape) apps.. and this is a good thing. If it had been GPLed, they wouldn't be able to distribute it. Which would be a bad thing. Unless you really believe that commercial software has absolutely no value or place... Indeed, this line of reasoning is what caused the LGPL to be introduced, surely? Jules /----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------\ | Jelibean aka | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | 6 Evelyn Rd | | Jules aka | | Richmond, Surrey | | Julian Bean | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | TW9 2TF *UK* | +----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------+ | War doesn't demonstrate who's right... just who's left. | | When privacy is outlawed... only the outlaws have privacy. | \----------------------------------------------------------------------/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
