MJ Ray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> a tapoté : > On 2003-08-29 14:17:12 +0100 Mathieu Roy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I'm completely capable to read a book and make a summary, make a > > speech about it ... there's no way to forbid that - since I have the > > freedom of speech and freedom of thought. > > That is not a derived work. You can use proprietary software and > describe it, too.
But describing a software is not the most interesting thing. While describing and analysing a book is the most interesting thing you can do with a book (apart from reading it, obviously). In fact, describing and analysing means approximatively "read the source" of a book. > > Every scientific book is made of references, bibliographies. You > > do not remodify a book someone wrote - that's pointless. > > And you do not modify a program someone wrote, either? It's not > fundamentally different. You cut my message at the wrong place, where I explain why I say it's pointless. The missing part explains that when I thought about a book you've read, you're already modifying it. While you cannot do the same with a software until you get access to the source and explicit right to modify it. In fact, with computer, we're forced to use licenses to get the rights we already have with books. > One more time, with feeeeeeeling: I find the position that we would > not benefit from a general right to modify, adapt, copy You think you found this position only because you cut my text at the wrong place. At the contrary, I think we should all benefit from a general right to modify, adapt, copy and distribute all sort of works. But I think this is usually only impossible with proprietary software. For the other sort of works, it's more the right to copy which is not obvious unfortunately (music major companies do not cares about sample but do care about burned CDs downloaded on the net). And the GFDL is absolutely not a problem about this right. I think this GFDL issue a complete waste of time -- but I do talk about it because it would piss me off to add non-free in my apt-get's sources to get the manual of the free softwares I enjoy. > and distribute all sorts of creative work wholly illogical and draws > an arbitrary distinction between functional and aesthetic works... > > ...but that's not relevant to this discussion. Replies off-list, > please. This is completely relevant to the subject "documentation eq software?". If you're not interesting in this subject, you have the right to stop feeding it. -- Mathieu Roy Homepage: http://yeupou.coleumes.org Not a native english speaker: http://stock.coleumes.org/doc.php?i=/misc-files/flawed-english