[K12OSN] Scary article from Russia (w/o love)

[Terrell Prude' Jr.]

Les Mikesell wrote:
> Terrell Prude' Jr. wrote:
>>
>>
>> Les Mikesell wrote:
>>> Terrell Prude' Jr. wrote:
>>>> Conrad,
>>>>
>>>> "Free" doesn't refer to price when we refer to free software.  
>>>> Rather, it refers to freedom.  Think RHEL here.
>>>>
>>>>  http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
>>>
>>> And there is a serious problem with this when you would like to be 
>>> free to make your own choice about individual components and the GPL 
>>> prevents anything with different restrictions from being included in 
>>> a single work.
>>>
>>
>> Huh?
>
> How do you propose that any existing technology covered by 
> GPL-incompatible restrictions be combined in a single program with 
> anything covered by the GPL?  It can't - and you are forced to exclude 
> one or the other.  In cases covered only by copyright, there is the 
> possibility of duplicating the work, but you can't do that with 
> patents.  Look at it this way: How many software patents are there?  
> That's how many things can never be included in the Linux kernel 
> unless someone arranges unlimited free distribution rights for each 
> covered item.  And this is regardless of the reasonableness of the 
> terms of the patent or your own choices about the value vs. cost.
>

Ooo-kaaayyy...we are now officially way, way off topic here....

--TP