From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,3e26dfa741e64e5f X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII Path: g2news1.google.com!postnews.google.com!z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Ludovic Brenta" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: GNAT GPL 2005 Edition is now available Date: 16 Sep 2005 03:56:31 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Message-ID: <1126868191.519850.18060@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> References: <432919be$0$10539$4d4eb98e@read.news.fr.uu.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.190.145.10 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: posting.google.com 1126868196 7138 127.0.0.1 (16 Sep 2005 10:56:36 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:56:36 +0000 (UTC) In-Reply-To: User-Agent: G2/0.2 X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; SunOS sun4u; fr-FR; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040116,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe) X-HTTP-Via: 1.1 SEVPXS01 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com; posting-host=212.190.145.10; posting-account=ZjNXewwAAADyBPkwI57_UcX8yKfXWOss Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:4787 Date: 2005-09-16T03:56:31-07:00 List-Id: Larry Kilgallen a =E9crit : > David Trudgett writes: > >> The explanation AdaCore comes up with must explain how restricting >> the freedom of developers to license their own work in the way most >> suitable to them, does not prove contempt of the very principles of >> freedom that the GPL is supposed to be defending. > > The GPL effect is designed to be viral -- AdaCore is now adhering to > it more closely. They are quite in tune with the FSF manifesto. > > The fact that AdaCore motives are likely to be promoting their own > supported product is obvious, as is the fallacy of those who had > viewed GNAT as the answer to all problems in provision of compilers > for Ada. > > Computing (like life) has no "magic bullet". I agree. As I have stated before, I personally do not have any objection to libgnat being GPL for non-customers. There seems to be quite strong feelings the opposite way, and even some frustration. These feelings and frustration do not have to be. AdaCore does not serve amateurs or hobbyists; AdaCore does not serve SMEs or individual professionals. AdaCore concentrates on serving large businesses. This is not new. I asked for votes about the next Ada compiler in Debian only because I want to do what users want. AdaCore has no obligation to do what non-customers want, and no obligation to explain their decisions. Because GNAT is (very) inexpensive and (was) legally unencumbered, amateurs, hobbyists, SMEs and individual professionals have come to depend on AdaCore for continued updates to GNAT. Now, many feel betrayed. But there is no betrayal since there was no prior agreement. If this dependence on AdaCore is really a problem, the solution is independence from AdaCore, not complaints. This independence exists today in the form of the FSF tree. Also, AdaCore's own CVS server (containing AWS, GLADE, GtkAda, GPS, etc.) is still accessible and contains sources with the special permission to link these libraries with non-GPL programs. If someone wants independence from AdaCore, they can always take a snapshot of that repository and start maintaining the thing themselves. This is much better than being a captive customer. And, as a convenience, many binary distributions of the GMGPL libraries still exist at no cost. Also, several people here have stated their willingness to pay for support, but that they couldn't afford AdaCore's astronomical rates. This seems to indicate that there is a market opportunity to form a small business to provide "low-end" support contracts. This market is free for the taking, as is the software itself. Since I don't personally take issue with libgnat being GPLed, I'm not going to be the one doing a fork. But if this is enough of an itch to somebody, then by all means, scratch it. --=20 Ludovic Brenta.