At 07:21 PM 11-05-2000 -0300, The Hermit Hacker wrote:
>
>Do you not have a copy of the code sitting in front of you, or
>nearby? Don't greater then, oh, 50 mirror sites? Don't >500 downloads of
>v7.0 since release? My point is that nobody can ever 'take PostgresQL
>proprietary' ... the best they can do is extend a branch of their own and
>not release the source code for those changes ...
True.
Will GPL really be better for Postgresql? To me it depends on what
Postgresql developers would want.
If you don't mind people taking your code, adding a few bits and then
charging others for it by all means continue to use the BSD license. You
may see your code/work in MSSQL Server one day too. Things like this have
happened a lot. There are many who don't mind, but there are some like me
who may.
Personally, if I'm going to give out my code for free, I'd prefer the GPL.
With the GPL, companies who embrace and extend Postgresql will have to
release the source code of their extensions, if they are distributing the
binaries to others (they don't have to if they are keeping it for internal
use). It's a nonissue for most companies- internal use they can do what
they want. If they are trying to sell stuff, they just provide the source
for related parts, they can still _sell_ stuff. And their customers are
better for it since they at least have _some_ source- in this case having
the whole Postgresql source plus extensions.
I feel it takes the industry to a better level.
On many occasions I've informed companies that they can get certain stuff
for free if they "DIY", but they still want me to do it for them and charge
them. They are not artificially forced to buy my services/products. A fair
transaction with no gotchas. I prefer making money that way.
Perhaps if the industry goes that direction we won't make huge amounts of
money. But it has always seemed rather strange that so much money is going
into this industry. Most of the stuff is flakey, the benefits are hard to
pin down (I must admit we've got lots more cool toys to play with tho ;) ).
And the usual shrinkwrapped licenses are insane - "we reserve the right to
screw you at any time". The GPL is a welcome change from all that.
Maybe the GPL is not legally enforceable, may be it is. However, being
tried in the courts of public opinion is no small matter. And that's where
it counts if you want to be big.
Note: AFAIK the developers can still keep copyright ownership over their
code, so they are still free to release their work under other licensing.
Cheerio,
Link.
