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[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]tlug: Followup to Linus letter
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- Subject: tlug: Followup to Linus letter
- From: "Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>
- Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 13:19:01 +0900 (JST)
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>>>>> "Matt" == Matt Gushee <matt@example.com> writes: Matt> Scott Stone writes: >> Here's a letter from Bill Gates to the 'hobbyist' community, >> dated 1976, which was available on the same page as the Linus >> letter (you're supposed to compare them, I think): Matt> Well, now we know he didn't *turn* bad :-). In a similar Matt> vein, the other day I read somewhere that as a Harvard Matt> student, Mr. Gates once wrote a letter to the effect that Matt> "freeware is a destructive concept." Anybody know about Matt> that? Well, it's not an entirely unsupportable argument. _Atlas Shrugged_, Ayn Rand. I know several freeware developers and one maintainer of a major project who have taken "Galt's Pledge". Although the interpretation of "shall not live for another" is obscure, to say the least, it is certainly true that where markets work they make the accounting implicit in that Pledge easier. Rand (and Gates, I would guess) took the lazy way out and ask that markets do all the difficult accounting for them. BTW, to the extent that members of this list are "freeware enthusiasts", as well as "Linux enthusiasts", I don't think that the discussions of trademark issues and so on are out of place. If Eric Raymond is correct (and I think he is, see the Karl-Max thread on parallel processing, software development may not be susceptible to parallel processing, but it certainly is to distributed processing!), there are going to soon be broad areas where freeware dominates slaveware both technically (as Linux already does) and economically (gcc is not too far from there). When that happens, you are going to start seeing battles over freeware trademarks. PHT/Cliff may have preempted such here in Japan, I don't _really_ think so, but it could be. I know of one related battle already (Aladdin vs. FSF over Ghostscript); the GPL allows use of GPL software in embedded systems, such as a fax (many Postscript faxes are actually Ghostscript faxes), and Aladdin naturally (a) wanted a cut and (b) faced the loss of substantial consulting fees from embedded systems manufacturers, who naturally objected to paying for the development of their competitors' systems. So the Aladdin Public License differs from the GPL. We're already seeing Windose/Linux installations (I get a flyer a week or so from local systems integrators, and they're all doing that now). I can indeed see somebody getting the bright idea of trademarking Linux, or trying to, at the expense of the "real" Linux community. There are lots of people using Linux now who actually don't care that it's free software. -- University of Tsukuba Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences Tel/fax: +1 (298) 53-5091 -------------------------------------------------------------- Next Nomikai: 18 September, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691 Next Meeting: 10 October, Tokyo Station Yaesu central gate 12:30 -------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsor: PHT, makers of TurboLinux http://www.pht.co.jp
- References:
- tlug: Followup to Linus letter
- From: Scott Stone <sstone@example.com>
- tlug: Followup to Linus letter
- From: Matt Gushee <matt@example.com>
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