(I've reinserted a portion of the quote that you shouldn't have snipped.) On Fri, May 21, 2004 at 06:01:22PM -0400, Raul Miller wrote: > On Fri, May 21, 2004 at 10:55:47PM +0200, Francesco Poli wrote: > > I'm not quite comfortable with this `grandfathering' thing.
> > "if the GPL is not-quite-free, but it's considered free anyway only > > because it's grandfathered by DFSG#10, why cannot the > > <put_your_favourite_non-free_license_here> be grandfathered as well?" > > Except, it is free. > > People have been "not comfortable" with it for ages. Most of that > discomfort has had to do with how difficult it is to turn GPLed software > into non-free software. The only serious arguments I've seen (and given) for the GPL failing DFSG#1-9, as actually applied by d-legal, are the changelog and output spam requirements. Neither of those are relevant to copyleft at all, so this statement is false, at least among arguments presented on this list over the last few years. Of course, the "not comfortable" in the message you replied to was referring to grandfathering, not to the freeness of the GPL, so it didn't really make much sense as a reply. > I think we can live while people spout such rhetoric. I just supplied a reasonable argument of how the GPL fails DFSG#3. Nobody has to agree with it, and I'm perfectly willing to live with being in the minority on that debate--but condescending to opinions you don't agree with is unimpressive. -- Glenn Maynard
