Web services and free software

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   > While the GPL (any version) is not a trivial license, any hacker
   > who is capable of writting a non-trivial program should be able
   > to grasp it in an hour.

   Perhaps "should", but they don't.

Probobly for the same reason they don't write well written
programs... ;-)

   > Still, it is a easy license compared to most other licenses, and
   > the general ideas are easily grasped by the four freedoms of free
   > software.

   Compared to most other licences? I'm not sure about that. It's more
   complex than most BSD-like and Apache-style licences, which are a
   significant proportion of "other".

I suppose that is what I get for being vauge, by most other licenses,
I was refering to non-free software licenses.

   >    Not everyone agrees that the right to see software source on
   >    someone else's machine you're using is a free software right;
   >    I'm not particularly sure I do.
   > 
   > I think that this is no different than a machine that I own that
   > prohibits me from upgrading it.

   Whereas I think it's no different to using a shell on a shared
   server.

Well, then I can only assume that you think what Tivio did is ok?
Since that is one way to look at it, a hardware with a shell that the
company is providing access to.

   >    That's a shame if it's not, they did build in a clause to make it
   >    compatible:
   > 
   > 	   "You may also choose to redistribute modified versions of
   > 	   this program under any version of the Free Software
   > 	   Foundation's GNU General Public License version 3 or
   > 	   higher, so long as that version of the GNU GPL includes
   > 	   terms and conditions substantially equivalent to those of
   > 	   this license."

Scratch what I wrote after this, I thought this was from the GPLv3...