[ale] open source wars at DOD

[David Bronson]

Yes, they had a non-GNU license, but the situation changed. MySQL is now
under true GPL. 


-----Original Message-----
From: Joe at orado.localdomain.private
To: ale at ale.org
[mailto:Joe at orado.localdomain.private] On Behalf Of Joseph A Knapka
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 3:04 PM
To: Pete Hardie
Cc: ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] open source wars at DOD

Pete Hardie wrote:
> 
> "Michael D. Hirsch" wrote:
> > That is a justification for paying money for software, not for
closing
> > the source.  The two are not the same.  If you pay money for
software,
> > you have a right to expect good service, regardless of whether the
> > source is open.
> 
> Unless I'm the first customer, any open source program had better not
cost me
> money for the program.  The main problem with open source is that the
> original developer cannot make money except to the first customer -
everyone
> else
> can get that program for free after it is written.

That is entirely dependent upon the licensing terms under which
the software is released. "Open-source" != "Free software".
Many open-source products are free for individual or educational
use, but require payment to the developer for commercial
use. MySQL is a good example.

Sure, you *can* use the code in a commercial product, just
like you *can* install your single-license copy of Win2000
on twelve different computers. However, most people (I
believe) will follow the rules most of the time, especially
when dealing with a vendor who plays nice.

Cheers,

-- Joe
   "Thanks to Microsoft, I am now blind in both eyes. They have
    rolled back in my head so many times this week that they
    are apparently stuck there now."
      - Jonathan Rickman, regarding M$ anti-open-source PR.

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