> I'd go further. It's not possible to force anyone to share, but the > GPL aims to remove software from a system that instead aims to force > people NOT to share.
Well said. I do think the point is -- no one liscence fits all. The GPL is a great tool for those that write software for the purpose of sharing with those that want to mutually share. Personally it has the feel of justice to me -- but that's just me. But of course it does not fit all needs and the politics and personalities of all developers and teams of developers. For example, RMS developed the LGPL for other cases where it makes sense, and I think I read somewhere that RMS encouraged the release of BSD (is that right?) -- because that too is a help to free software in the end. As for Python -- I think the best liscence depends on the goals of the developers. If you want python to be infrastructure, especially, for applciation scripting -- it's kind of nice that it's BSD like or perhaps LGPL, on the other hand if you want it to be free software focused -- then GPL would be better. So there are many alternatives depending on goals. You see this played out throughout the Open Source community. In any case -- regardless of liscence -- I think Python is the greatest and I have great respect for all those that have made it possible. Rob -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
