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From: jla@wheaties.ai.mit.edu (Joseph Arceneaux)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Selling of free software
Message-ID: <9861@galapas.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 12 Aug 90 19:54:17 GMT
References: <7268@star.cs.vu.nl> <1990Aug10.170521.9435@zoo.toronto.edu> <9849@galapas.ai.mit.edu> <7292@star.cs.vu.nl>
Reply-To: jla@galapas.ai.mit.edu (Joseph Arceneaux)
Organization: The GNU Project
Lines: 24

In article <7292@star.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes:
>The GNU copyleft has a very serious problem of creating legal obligations
>on the part of anyone using it.  I have very carefully avoided using any
>GNU software in MINIX as well as in Amoeba, even though technically I might
>have been willing.  Although the intention of copyleft may have been to
>make sure the software was always available to the public, for me it has
>had just the opposite effect.

Since the effect of Copyleft is indeed to guarantee availability of
the software, the only reason to avoid it is if you envision
eventually restricting the software from the public.

>but a legal, enforceable obligation
>to do ANYTHING is going to make any lawyer, including P-H's, sit up and
>take notice.  What exactly, have they contracted to do, what have they
>gotten in return, what record keeping do they have to maintain to defend
>a lawsuit, how much in damages might they be liable for, and more.
>It is anything but simple.

Really, using Copylefted software is very simple--just use it.  Only
the folks who want to do other things, such as restrict its
distribution or sell binary-only versions, need worry about legal
obligations.  Those, as you point out, are the people with all the
lawyers.