Re: GWindows and a future home for it

[Hyman Rosen <hyrosen@mail.com>]

Marius Amado Alves wrote:
> The problem is that open source licensing is unadjusted to what you 
> really want (which is usually to charge for certain uses of the 
> software) or to a fair rewarding of the authors.

ACT does not appear to be unhappy with using the GPL.
It uses it even for new products, such as GPS. So it
must be what they really want, or they wouldn't do it.

> And you must resort to  subtrefugial, convoluted, parasitic commercial
 > schemes like the "request" or dual licensing.

When I buy toys, they often come labeled with warnings that they contain
small parts and are thus unsuitable for children under age three. When my
son was younger than three, sometimes I would let him have these toys
anyway, and sometimes I would not, depending on my judgement as to their
safety. The labels absolved the toy company from responsibility for use
of the product in a way they deemed unsuitable, while allowing me the
freedom to use them as I wished. None of the adjectives you use apply to
this circumstance, nor to the similar labels on GNAT Pro. ACT maintains
that versions of GNAT Pro are suitable for the customer who gets them,
and not necessarily for the public at large, because development and
testing are done for particular customers on particular platforms. Anyone
who chooses to disregard this is perfectly free to do so, but then ACT
takes no responsibility for the suitablity of the results.

> The problem is that open source licenses treat the software like a physical
 > thing. Maybe there is no unsolvable problem really, but it is so clear that
 > the open source licensing is unadjusted and unfair, that now and then I just
 > have to step in and try to shake those irritating pink hearts.

Apparently the authors do not find it unfair, since they persist in making
more free software. Apparently their paying customers are satisfied, since
they are in fact paying. As far as I can tell, everyone is perfectly satisfied
with these arrangements, except for people who seem to want the benefits of
being an ACT customer without actually becoming one.