'GPL encumbrance problems'

[jdow]

From: "Tim" <ignored_mailbox at yahoo.com.au>

> On Wed, 2006-01-18 at 21:10 -0800, jdow wrote:
>> Rightly or wrongly I perceive two things, it is impossible for me to
>> write code for a GPLed system in such a way as to protect my own work
>> from the accidental side effects of the GPLed system's licenses.
> 
> Just from a point of curiosity, is it not possible to create Linux
> software that doesn't depend on other things?  Do all compilers
> "include" things that might contaminate you?  And surely that problem
> might exist on other platforms, too.

The point here is that I do not know for sure I can and precisely
what I can do to ensure that I will continue to be able to do this.
With Windows, for extreme example, the playing field is plainly
laid out. With Linux/Gnu it is not nearly so clear. And it appears
to be "obscure" by intent. Since I am a small target I expect to be
among the first hit if FSF wants to start raking in revenue so that
it can afford to attack a giant. I do not like that potential exposure.
Protecting myself from it takes too much time I might otherwise spend
trying to make what I produce more error free.

> Going by some of what I've seen discussed, it does rather look like
> Linux is set up to be something that's not ripe for exploitation.  It
> exists, but isn't going to be a cash cow.  It doesn't owe anybody else a
> living.  And like many things in life, that can be a good thing.
> There's plenty of other things that can be exploited, I wouldn't like it
> so that the only way to use a computer, whichever one you went for, had
> to mean spending lots of money on it.
> 
> I certainly appreciate the very different status that Linux has compared
> to other computer systems, and not just because of the (low) cost of it.
> I like something that's not under the thumb of a capitalist.

So this is why I do not elect to develop for Linux. I see it's viral
licensing as being too big a risk for one person to face alone. That is
all I said in that first comment. It's all I continue to say. For *ME*
it is not a suitable choice for development efforts that are designed to
provide me with my living.

{^_^}