[chox] Eric Raymond talks about GPL and BSD licenses

• From: Holger Weiss <lists jhweiss.de>
• Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 15:32:44 +0200

| Eric Raymond talks about GPL and BSD licenses
| =============================================
| 
| Recently, during FISL (Fórum Internacional de Software Livre), in
| Brazil, Eric Raymond defended open source model of development and
| quoted: "Basically, we don't need GPL. It's based on the belief that
| open source software is weak and needs to be protected. With it, we
| continue injuring ourselves, cutting ourselves from the economic
| benefits of BSD license".
| 
| Raymond tried, in a straight and ironic way, to explain how open source
| community should have good "appeals" to convince all the great
| corporations about the benefits of the use of open source technology:
| "We should identify theis goals and needs. Not our goals and needs.
| Then, they will come, because our model is much better".
| 
| He infriged that we should focus mainly in the the issue related to the
| control of your own business: "In the proprietary software model, your
| vendor controls. Can you chance whenever you want to? No! Do you want to
| have control without dependency risks? Go open source!", said Raymond.
| 
| Incisor, he went on polemics. For him, freedom do not have primary
| importance.
| 
| "Open source has the benefit for not fighting against the
| anti-capitalist concept that comes with free software. But where is the
| money but in the great companies? Our arguments cannot be guided by
| moral aspects. They should be guided by pratic arguments, such as profit
| and advantages related to our competidors".
| 
| And he was even more ironic:
| 
| "Freedom and choice are pretty cool. But we should talk about many other
| things. GPL is based on the belief that open source software is weak and
| needs to be protected. With it, we continue injuring ourselves, cutting
| ourselves from the economic benefits of BSD license".
| 
| Thoughout his presentation, Raymond explain that the greatest feature of
| "The cathedral and the bazar" is its language that can be delighted by
| anybody in the world. He even said that in tow years, the Open Source
| Iniciative, organization that he manages, have gotten more results than
| Free Software Foundation has gotten in fifteen.
| 
| "I had to learn about marketing to succed. I got tired of seeing the
| good ones losing space for idiots just because of marketing. The
| companies structure is made to avoid significant changes. That is why we
| should act, strategically, on the informational environment and promote
| open source in the most efficient way. With numbers, of course, showing
| that we have more features, less bugs and even lesses costs", said
| Raymond, that asked:
| 
| - Dont let the community split just because of phylospohy strugle.
|   Evangelism is something trivial. We shopuld decide if we want
|   ideological wins or to succeed. I prefer to succeed.
| 
| He finished saying:
| 
| - Markets seek efficiency. That is the reason we will prevail. We do not
|   lock our clients. We do not tell lies.
| 
| Source:
| 
| Luiz Gustavo Ramos
| www.OpenIT.com.br

[ http://www.myfreebsd.com.br/static/raymond-20050604.html ]

Holger

-- 
PGP fingerprint:  F1F0 9071 8084 A426 DD59  9839 59D3 F3A1 B8B5 D3DE
_______________________
Web-Site: http://www.oekonux.de/
Organization: http://www.oekonux.de/projekt/
Contact: projekt oekonux.de

• Previous thread: [chox] Die universelle Maschine?
• Next thread: [chox] Neue Webseite zu Softwarepatenten
• Next by Date: [chox] Neue Webseite zu Softwarepatenten
• Prev by Date: [chox] Die universelle Maschine?