ahh, good old fear mongering at its finest. Just what we need, a red scare in the computing world.

The free software foundation is the maintainer and champion of the Gnu Public License (GPL for short) and the suite of programs that make up the GNU project.

The GPL license is a contract between programmers that ensures that any code that one gifts to the foundation stays as a gift that is not exploitable by companies who dishonestly wish to appropriate the source without giving due credit to the original authors. The GPL is mainly a license that prohibits the un-noble theft and dishonest sale of publicly available source code without giving credit where it is due. Notice that it doesn't prohibit the sale of GPL code, just that it prohibits the sale of the binary without the accompanying source.


Additionally, any additions/changes to the code require that these be GPL as well. This encourages the technology to stay free and open. The viral nature of the license simply serves as an impetus to discourage software companies from exploiting the source code and keeping their usage hidden. For the most part, most GPL code writers would prefer that all GPL code be freely given by the writers in the first place. Case in point, look at the recent legal problems with Linux. The Linux community doesn't want the offending code in the kernel, period.

The GPL is a great capitalist tool. A company can release their technologies and IP under the GPL, providing the patents, etc for free use in GPL products while still protecting their royalty collection from other companies. Additionally this company retains the rights to distribute and sell this code in any way they wish. They can also license the technology and intellectual property in any additional way they chose since they own the original copyrights, and patents. Basically this protects the bottom line of a company while providing and open development model that encourages community effort and provides the community with the tools they need to provide fixes/changes for themselves should the need arise.

RandomTask

[edited by - RandomTask on October 14, 2003 6:39:05 PM]