OT: Two ways Microsoft sabotages Linux desktop adoption

[Joel Rees]

2006-02-14 (火) の 23:11 -0600 に Les Mikesell さんは書きました:
> On Tue, 2006-02-14 at 22:40, Craig White wrote:
> 
> > Obviously commitment to the open source model is what Linus and Red Hat
> > are about. Commitment isn't about only when it is good for me|us.
> 
> Open source and GPL are two very different things.  Different
> enough that 'open source' had to be invented as separate term
> due to the problems of the GPL restrictions. 

The only problem with the GPL is the misinterpretations that circulate.

The GPL allows dynamic linking to incompatibly licensed software, as
long as the separation is clear, and the basic requirement is that the
API should be standardized enough that there should be at least a
theoretical possibility of swapping what is linked out for something
else. If this weren't the case, no proprietary software could run on
Linux, period.

LGPL allows linking to most incompatibly licensed binaries in any case.

If the above were not the case, Mac OS X would not legally be able to
run any propietary software. It wouldn't even be legal for Apple to
compile iTunes on it or for it, considering Apple's compiler is the GCC.
Open Office is another example, also Cygwin, ...

Stallman does have the goal of seeing a world where the LGPL is no
longer needed. Won't happen this side of the Millenial Reign, but it's a
nice goal. Still, he has left plenty of room for people who don't
understand that money and value are not equivalent to use GPLed
software, as long as they don't try to abuse the largess of the
programmers that wrote it.

>  There's no
> reason for a consumer of any product to be commited to it
> and a very bad idea to be locked in in any way.  If a
> product can't do what you need - and it's by design - you'll
> end up with a different product.  So people keep buying
> Windows...
> 
> -- 
>   Les Mikesell
>    lesmikesell at gmail.com


Full moon or otherwise, I've got to get back to work.