Reinhard <reinhard.mueller(a)bytewise.at> wrote:
> josX wrote:
> > Klaus Schilling wrote:
> > > John Tapsell writes:
> > > > On Thu, 10 May 2001, you wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > On Thu, May 10, 2001 at 09:56:24AM +0200, Stefan Meretz wrote:
> > > > > > Is there a copyleft license preventing from making money with free
> > > > > > software?
> > > > >
> > > > > No.
> > > > >
> > > > But you can always write one :)
> > >
> > > No, you can't, because the software would not be free if its license
> > > prevented that.
> >
> > Let's do it.
> >
> > Draft:
> >
> > This material is hereby released to the public. It is not allowed to
> > be profitting from this material by selling it's use or the material
> [...]
> If Apache had this licence, could I take money for website hosting?
Yes. You are not selling it directly, or selling it use.
> If gcc had this licence, could I ever take money for any program I
> write?
same
> If people liked the program, how would I afford to burn as many cd's as
> people want?
Private money and give it away.
> How would I afford to buy webspace to let others download
> the program?
Private money and give it away.
> Would I have to write proprietary closed-source software to earn the
> money I need for this "hobby"?
Yes, or you can do something else. This is free software, and you guys
who want te make a living from it ar ruining it, because it will end up
being some bisnis model. Lot's of people release their stuff and don't
see money. /That/ is free(dom/beer) software. The GPL just doesn't fit
it very well: it is much too money-oriented.
About me agreeing with RMS: I agree with him when I read the discussions
between ESR.... yes, I agree with RMS, and the difference between the
/alledged/ position of Linus which is suposedly he doesn't care (don't
want to put worth in his mouth here)... yes, then I would go with RMS.
But (evidentally) I'm much more radical then RMS.
But then again: am I really that radical when almost all software is
given away for nothing, and almost all free-hackers do it for the fun
of writing and the knowledge people can use it for free ?
regards,
Jos
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